EXCELSIOR LITERATURE SERIES 




No. 35 



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Lady of the Lake 



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By Sir Walter Scott 




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F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY, DANSVILLE, N.Y. 



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Browning's Poems. No. 11. Selected. 

Edited with biographical sketch, notes and outlines by Laura 
Dunbar Hagarty. The selections include The Pied Piper, Herve 
Kiel, How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, 
Incident of the French Camp, The Lost Leader, Pheidippides, 

and others. 48 pages 15 

Christmas Carol, A. No. 19. Charles Dickens. 

With introduction and notes. 88 pages 18 

Courtship of Miles Standish, The. No. 3. H. W. Longfellow. 

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Evangeline. No. 1. H. W. Longfellow. 

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EXCELSIOR LITERATURE SERIES 



The Lady of the Lake 



By SIR WALTER SCOTT 



With Introduction and Notes 
By BARBARA A. MacLEOD 



F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
DANSVILLE. N. Y. 






Copyright, 1915 
F. A. OWEN PUBTJSHING CO. 



l^ke Lady of the Lake 



©CIA A 426425 



^PR 2 3- 1^1(3 



BIOGRAPHY 

Walter Scott, upon whose head rests the double crown of 
poetry and prose, was born in Edinburgh on the 15th of Au- 
gust, 1771, and died at Abbotsford on the 21st of September, 
1832. During his youth he suffered much from ill health and 
contracted a lameness which never left him. In spite of this 
he joined in m.ost of the active sports of the schoolboys, thus 
asserting his vigorous, courageous and manly character. He 
studied at the High School and University of his native city 
and early imbued his mind with the legends, traditions and an- 
tiquities of his country. 

Discarding the profession of an advocate for which he was 
intended, he directed his attention to literary pursuits, and in 
1796 commenced his meteoric career as author by the publica- 
tion of ballads from the German of Burger. In 1802 he pro- 
duced The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and in 1805 en- 
raptured the reading world with the first of his great poems. 
The Lay of the Last Minstrel, a work which placed him in the 
front rank of contemporary poets, and second only to Byron 
and Shelley. In 1808 he gave the public his Marmion, the 
masterpiece of his poetic genius; and in 1810 his last great 
poem. The Lady of the Lake. 

In 1811 he built for himself on the banks of the Tweed a 
romantic chateau which he named Abbotsford and which re- 
mains one of Britain's sacred shrines. 

In 1814 he began his career as a novelist by the publication 
of Waverley. Thenceforward he delighted tens of thousands 
with the productions of his magical pen. Translated into every 
language, they filled the world with their fame and made for 
their creator a princely fortune. 

Having become involved in the commercial transactions of 
his publishers, Scott was in 1825 a ruined man. But he rose 
again, resumed his pen, and though suffering from impaired 
health and domestic afflictions, he in the course of six years 
paid $600,000. This unexampled intellectual effort he accom- 
plished at the cost of his life. He went to Italy for his health, 
but finding his strength rapidly declining he returned to his 
home to die. 

Independent of his novels and poems; Scott did much in other 
departments of literature. His miscellaneous writings em- 
braced almost every branch of belles-lettres. Scott must ever 
rank as one of the foremost names in literature. Surpassed 
by other writers in versatility, art, individuality and humor, 
Scott yet remains the grand master of the field of chivalrous 
and historical romance. 



INTRODUCTION 

The Lady of the Lake is by far the most interesting of the 
many romantic and interesting- poems of Scott. Loch Katrine 
and the Trosachs, the scene of the opening cantos, have been 
thronged since his day with tourists who live over again the 
delights excited in their minds by his wonderful power of pic- 
turing rapid action and the charm of natural scenery. The 
historical basis of the poem is to be found in the life of the 
hero, James V of Scotland, which is romantically depicted in 
The Tales of a Grandfather, an excerpt from which is found in 
this volume. 

The smoothness and flowing grace of the lines make the poem 
easy to read and to commit to memory; these qualities are 
what have made it one of the most frequently read long poems 
of the English language. If well read aloud to boys and girls 
it is the poem of all others best suited to create in them a taste 
for poetry. It is pre-eminently the poem for youth and youth- 
ful readers. Perhaps one reason for this is that the poem sel- 
dom lags in movement, and the spirit and freshness of each new 
episode and scene are preserved most admirably throughout. 

The six cantos describe the events of six days, each canto 
representing the happenings of one day. The parts of the poem 
depicting the chase and the meeting with Ellen in the midst of 
the wild and charming scenery of Loch Katrine; the weird and 
mystical superstitions surrounding the ritual of the Fiery 
Cross ; the hand-to-hand combat between the fierce Highland 
chieftain and his enemy ; the devotion of the minstrel to his 
lady; the sports and the glittering chivalry of the court at 
Stirling, are the portions of the poem that live most vividly in 
the memory. 

Throughout the poem the songs frequently interspersed serve 
to relieve the sameness of the iambic tetrameter in which the 
lines of the poem itself are written. Though the Pibroch of 
Donuil Dhu was regarded by Scott as the only one of his songs 
worthy to live, the Boat Song in Canto II and the Coronach or 
lament for the dead in Canto III could not be spared without 
marring the beauty of the poem. 

The prologue to Canto I is well adapted to create for the 
reader an appreciation of the spirit of the poet though it hapn^ 
little or no suggestion in it of the content of the canto itself. 
In this particular the introductions to nearly all the other can- 
tos differ, leading as they do, directly into the subject. The 
epilogue to the poem is most admirable and is a complement to 
the prologue to Canto I. As in the epic, the poet invokes the 
muse at the beginning of his story, and she having smiled 
upon him, he chants his gratitude in the strain of noble music 
which concludes the poem. 



REIGN AND CHARACTER OF JAMES V 

From Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather" 

Queen Margaret, who hated her husband Angus, now com- 
bined with his enemy Arran, to call James V, her son (though 
then only twelve years old), to the management of the public 
affairs ; but the Earl of Angus, returning at this crisis from 
France, speedily obtained a superiority in the Scottish councils, 
and became the head of those nobles who desired to maintain a 
friendly alliance with England rather than to continue that 
league with France, which had so often involved Scotland in 
quarrels with their powerful neighbor. Margaret might have 
maintained her authority, for she was personally much beloved ; 
but it was the fate or the folly of that Queen to form rash 
marriages. Having obtained a divorce from Angus, she mar- 
ried a young man of little power and inferior rank, named 
Henry Stewart, a younger son of Lord Evandale. She lost her 
influence by that ill-advised measure. Angus, therefore, rose 
to the supreme authority in Scotland, obtained possession of 
the psrsen of the King, transacted everything in the name of 
James, but by his own authority, and became in all respects 
the Regent of Scotland, though without assuming the name. 

The talents of the Earl of Angus were equal to the charge 
he had assumed, and as he reconciled himself to his old rival, 
the Earl of Arran, his power seemed founded on a sure basis. 
He was able to accomplish a treaty of peace with England, 
which was of great advantage to the kingdom. But, according 
to the fashion of the times, Angus was much too desirous to 
confer all the great offices, lands, and other advantages in the 
disposal of the crown, upon his own friends and adherents, to 
the exclusion of all the nobles and gentry who had either 
taken part against him in the late struggle for power, or were 
not decidedly his partisans. The course of justice also was 
shamefully perverted by the partiality of Angus for his friends, 
kinsmen and adherents. 

The King who was now fourteen years old, became disgusted 
with the sort of restraint in which Angus detained him, and 
desirous to free himself from his tutelage. His mother had 
doubtless a natural influence over him, and that likewise was 
exerted to the Earl's prejudice. The Earl of Lennox, a wise 
and intelligent nobleman, near in blood to the King, was also 
active in fostering his displeasure against the Douglases, and 
schemes began to be agitated for taking the person of the King 
out of the hands of Angus. But Angus was so well established 
in the government, that his authority could not be destroyed 
except by military force; and it was not easy to bring such to 
bear against one so powerful, and of such a martial character. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

At length it seems to have been determined to employ the 
agency of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, a man of great cour- 
age and military talent, head of a numerous and powerful clan 
and possessed of much influence on the Border. He had been 
once the friend of Angus, and had even scaled the walls of 
Edinburgh with a great body of his clan, in order to render the 
party of the Earl uppermost in that city. But of late he had 
attached himself to Lennox, by whose counsel he seems to have 
been guided in the enterprise which 1 am about to give you an 
account of. 

Some excesses had taken place on the Border, probably by 
the connivance of Buccleuch, which induced Angus to march 
to Jedburgh, bringing the King in his company, lest he should 
have made his escape during his absence. He was joined by 
the clans of Home and Ker, both in league with him, and he 
had, besides, a considerable body of chosen attendants. Angus 
was returning from this expedition, and had passed the night 
at Melrose. The Kers and Homes had taken leave of the Earl, 
who with the King and his retinue had left Melrose, when a 
band of a thousand horsemen suddenly appeared on the side of 
an eminence called Halidon-hill, and, descending into the valley, 
interposed between the Earl and the bridge by which he must 
pass the Tweed on his return northward. 

"Sir," said Angus to the King, "yonder comes Buccleuch, 
with the Border thieves of Teviotdale and Liddesdale, to inter- 
rupt your Grace's passage. I vow to God they shall either fight 
or fly. You shall halt upon this knoll with my brother George, 
while we drive off these banditti, and clear the road for your 
Grace. ' ' 

The King made no answer, for in his heart he desired that 
Buccleuch's undertaking might be successful; but he dared not 
say so. 

Angus, meantime, despatched a herald to charge Buccleuch 
to withdraw with his forces. Scott replied, "that he was come, 
according to the custom of the Borders, to show the King his 
clan and followers, and invite his Grace to dine at his house." 
To which he added, "that he knew the King's mind as well as 
Angus, " The Earl advanced, and the Borderers, shouting their 
war-cry of Bellenden, immediately joined battle, and fough** 
stoutly; but the Homes and the Kers, who were at no great 
distance, returned on hearing the alarm, and coming through 
the little village of Darnick, set upon Buccleuch's men and 
decided the fate of the day in favor of Angus and his men. This 
skirmish took place on the 25th of July, 1526. 

The Earl of Lennox being disappointed in procuring the King's 
release by means of Buccleuch, now resolved to attempt it in 
person. He received much encouragement from the Chan- 



JAMES V 

cellor Beaton, from the Earl of Glencairn, and other noble- 
men, who saw with displeasure the Earl of Angus keeping- the 
young King under restraint, and that all the administration of 
the kingdom centered in the Douglases. Lennox assembled an 
army of ten or twelve thousand men, and advanced upon Edin- 
burgh from Stirling. Angus and Arran, who were still closely 
leagued together, encountered Lennox, with an inferior force, 
near the village of Newliston. The rumour that a battle was 
about to commence soon reached Edinburgh, when Sir George 
Douglas hastened to call out the citizens in arms, to support 
his brother, the Earl of Angus. The city bells were rung, 
trumpets were sounded, and the King himself was obliged to 
mount on horseback, to give countenance to the measures of 
the Douglases, whom in his soul he detested. James was so 
sensible of his situation, that he tried, by every means in his 
power, to delay the march of the forces which were mustered 
at Edinburgh. When they reached the village of Corstorphine, 
they heard the thunder of the guns ; which inflamed the fierce 
impatience of George Douglas to reach the field of battle, and 
also increased the delays of the young King, who was in hopes 
Angus might be defeated before his brother could come up. 
Douglas, perceiving this, addressed the King in language which 
James never forgot nor forgave: — "Your Grace need not think 
to escape us," said this fierce warrior; "if our enemies had hold 
of you on one side, and we on the other, we would tear you to 
pieces ere we would let you go. " 

Tidings now came from the field of battle that Lennox had 
been defeated, and that Angus had gained the victory. The 
young King, dismayed at the news, now urged his attendants 
to gallop forward, as much as he had formerly desired them 
to hang back. He charged them to prevent slaughter, and 
save lives, especially that of Lennox. Sir Andrew Wood, one 
of the King's cup-bearers, arrived on the field of battle in time 
enough to save the Earl of Glencairn, who, protected by some 
strong ground, was still fighting gallantly, though he had scarce 
thirty men left alive; and Wood contrived to convey him safe 
out of the field. But Lennox, about whose safety the King 
was so anxious, was already no more. He had been slain in 
cold blood by that bloodthirsty man, Sir James Hamilton of 
Draphane, who took him from the Laird of Pardivan, to whom 
lie had surrendered himself. 

After these two victories, the Earl of Angus seemed to be 
so firmly established in power that his followers set no bounds 
to their presumption, and his enemies were obliged to fly and 
hide themselves. Angus est-iblished around the King's person 
a guard of a hundred men of his own choice, commanded by 
Douglas of Parkhead. But the close restraint in which the 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

King found himself, only increased his eager desire to be rid 
of all the Douglases together. Force having failed in two in- 
stances, James had recourse to stratagem. 

He prevailed on his mother. Queen Margaret, to yield up to 
him the castle of Stirling, which was her jointure-house, and 
secretly to put it into the hands of a governor whom he could 
trust. This was done with much caution. Thus prepared with 
a place of refuge, James watched with anxiety an opportunity 
of flying to it; and he conducted himself with such apparent 
confidence toward Angus that the Douglases were lulled into 
security, and concluded that the King was reconciled to his 
state of bondage, and had despaired of making his escape. 

[In July 1528 he succeeded one night in eluding his watchers, 
and rode from Falkland palace to Stirling castle. The Doug- 
lases pursued him here, but he defied them.] 

Soon afterwards, the King assembled around him the numer- 
ous nobility, who envied the power of Angus and Arran, or had 
suffered injuries at their hands; and, in open parliament, ac- 
cused them of treason, declaring that he had never been sure 
of his life all the while that he was in their power. A sen- 
tence of forfeiture was, therefore, passed against the Earl of 
Angus, and he was driven into exile, with all his friends and 
kinsmen. And thus the Red Douglases, of the house of Angus, 
shared almost the same fate with the Black Douglases, of the 
elder branch of that mighty house; with this difference, that 
as they had never risen so high, so they did not fall so irre- 
trievably; for the Earl of Angus lived to return and enjoy his 
estates in Scotland, where he again played a distinguished part. 
But this was not till after the death of James V, who retained, 
during his whole life, an implacable resentment against the 
Douglases, and never permitted one of the name to settle in 
Scotland while he lived. 

Freed from the stern control of the Douglas family, James 
V now began to exercise the government in person, and dis- 
played most of the qualities of a wise and good prince. 

His first care was to bring the Borders of Scotland to some 
degree of order. These were inhabited by tribes of men, 
forming each a different clan, as they were called, and obeying 
no orders, save those which were given by their chiefs. These 
chiefs were supposed to represent the first founder of the 
name, or family. The attachment of the clansmen to the chief 
was very great : indeed, they paid respect to no one else. In 
this the Borderers agreed with the Highlanders, as also in their 
love of plunder and neglect of the general laws of the country. 
But the Border men wore no tartan dress, and served almost 
always on horseback, whereas the Highlanders acted always on 



JAMES V 

foot. (You will also remember that the Borderers spoke the 
Scottish languag-e, and not the Gaelic tongue used by the 
mountaineers. ) 

The situation of these clans on the frontiers exposed them to 
constant war; so that they thought of nothing else but of col- 
lecting bands of their followers together, and making incur- 
sions, without much distinction, on the English, on the Low- 
land Scots, or upon each other. They paid little respect either 
to times of truce or treaties of peace, but exercised their dep- 
redations without regard to either, and often occasioned wars 
betwixt England and Scotland which would not otherwise have 
taken place. 

It is said of a considerable family on the Borders, that when 
they had consumed all the cattle about the castle, a pair of 
spurs was placed on the table in a covered dish, as a hint that 
they must ride out and fetch more. The chiefs and leading 
men told down their daughter's portions according to the plun- 
der which thej'^ were able to collect in the course of a Michael- 
mas moon, when its prolonged light allowed them opportunity 
for their freebooting excursions. The Borderers were very 
brave in battle, but in time of peace they were a pest to their 
Scottish neighbors. As their insolence had risen to a high 
pitch after the field of Flodden had thrown the country into 
confusion, James V resolved to take very severe measures 
against them. 

His first step was to secure the persons of the principal 
chieftains by whom these disorders were privately encouraged. 
James then assembled an army, in which warlike purposes 
were united with those of silvan sport; for he ordered all the 
gentlemen in the wild districts which he intended to visit to 
bring in their best dogs, as if his only purpose had been to 
hunt the deer in those desolate regions. This was intended to 
prevent the Borderers from taking the alarm, in which case 
they wouldhave retreated into their mountains and fastnesses, 
from whence it would have been diflScult to dislodge them. 
These men had indeed no distinct idea of the offences which 
they had committed, and consequently no apprehension of the 
King's displeasure against them. The laws had been so long 
silent in that remote and disorderly country, that the outrages 
which were practised by the strong against the weak seemed to 
the perpetrators the natural course of society, and to present 
nothing that was worthy of punishment. 

Thus, as the King, in the beginning of his expedition, sud- 
denly approached the castle of Piers Cockburn of Henderland, 
that baron was in the act of providing a great entertainment to 
welcome him, when James caused him to be suddenly seized 
on, and executed. Adam Scott of Tushielaw, called the King 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

of the Border, met the same fate. But an event of greater 
importance, was the fate of John Armstrong, of Gilnockie. 

This freebooting chief had risen to great consequence, and 
the whole neighbouring district of England paid him blackmail, 
that is, a sort of tribute, in consideration of which he forbore 
plundering them. He had a high idea of his own importance, 
and seems to have been unconscious of having merited any se- 
vere usage at the King's hands. On the contrary, he came to 
meet his sovereign at a place about ten miles from Hawick, 
called Carlinrigg chapel, richly dressed, and having with him 
twenty-four gentlemen, his constant retinue, as well attired as 
himself. The King, incensed to see a freebooter so gallantly 
equipped, commanded him instantly to be led to execution say- 
ing, "What wants this knave, save a crown, to be as magnifi- 
cent as a king?" John Armstrong made great offers for his 
life, offering to maintain himself, with forty men, ready to 
serve the King at a moment's notice, at his own expense; en- 
gaging never to hurt or injure any Scottish subject, as indeed 
had never been his practice; and undertaking that there was 
not a man in England, of whatever degree, duke, earl, lord, or 
baron, but he would engage, within a short time, to present 
him to the King, dead or alive. But the King would listen to 
none of his offers. 

John Armstrong was led to execution, with all his men, and 
hanged without mercy. The people of the inland counties were 
glad to be rid of him; but on the Borders he was both missed 
and mourned, as a brave warrior, and a stout man-at-arms 
against England. 

The Borders of Scotland were greatly weakened by the de- 
struction of so many brave men, who, notwithstanding their 
lawless course of life, were true defenders of their country ; 
and there is reason to censure the extent to which James car- 
ried his severity, as being to a certain degree impolitic, and 
beyond doubt cruel and excessive. 

In the like manner James proceeded against the Highland 
chiefs; and by executions, forfeitures, and other severe meas- 
ures, he brought the Northern mountaineers, as he had already 
done those of the South, into comparative subjection. He then 
set at liberty the Border chiefs, and others whom_ he had im- 
prisoned lest they should have offered any hindrance to the 
course of his justice. 

James V had a custom of going about the country disguised 
as a private person, in order that he might hear complaints 
which might not otherwise reach his ears, and perhaps, that he 
might enjoy amusements which he could not have partaken of 
in his avowed royal character. 

When James V travelled in disguise, he used a name which 



JAMES V 

was known only to some of his principal nobility and attend- 
ants. He was called the Goodman (the tenant, that is) of 
Ballengiech. Once upon a time, when the court was feasting 
in Stirling, the King sent for some venison from the neigh- 
bouring hills. The deer were killed, and put on horses' backs 
to be transported to Stirling. Unluckily they had to pass 
the castle gates of Arnpryor, belonging to a chief of the Bu- 
chanans, who chanced to have a considerable number of guests 
with him. It was late, and the company were rather short of 
victuals, though they had more than enough of liquor. The 
chief, seeing so much fat venison passing his very door, seized 
on it; and to the expostulations of the keepers, who told him 
it belonged to King James, he answered insolently, that if 
James was King of Scotland, he, Buchanan, was King in 
Kippen; being the name of the district in which the castle of 
Arnpryor lay. On hearing what had happensd, the King got 
on horseback, and rode instantly from Stirling to Buchanan's 
house, where he found a strong fierce-looking Highlander, 
with an axe on his shoulder, standing sentinel at the door. 
This grim warder refused the King admittance, saying, that 
the laird of Arnpryor was at dinner, and would not be dis- 
turbed. "Yet go up to the company, my good friend," said the 
King, "and tell him that the Goodman of Ballengiech is come 
to feast with the King of Kippen." The porter went grumb- 
ling into the house, and told his master that there was a fel- 
low with a red beard at the gate, who called himself the Good- 
man of Ballengiech, who said he was come to dine with the 
King of Kippen. As soon as Buchanan heard these words, he 
knew that the King was come in person, and hastened down 
to kneel at James's feet, and to ask forgiveness for his inso- 
lent behaviour. But the King, who only meant to give him a 
fright, forgave him freely, and, going into the castle, feasted 
on his own venison which Buchanan had intercepted. Buchan- 
an of Arnpryor was ever afterwards called the King of 
Kippen. 

The reign of James V was not alone distinguished by his 
personal adventures and pastime, but is honorably remem- 
bered on account of wise laws made for the government of 
his people. 













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"THE LADY OF THE LAKE" 



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The Lady of the Lake 

CANTO FIRST 

THE CHASE 
Harp of the North! that moldering long hast hung 

On the witch-elm that shades St. Fillan's spring, 
And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 

Till envious ivy did around thee cling, 

Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,— 5 
minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? 

Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, 
Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep. 

Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? 

Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, 10 

Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd. 
When lay of hopeless love, or glory won. 

Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. 
At each according pause was heard aloud 

Thine ardent symphony sublime and high ! 15 

Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed; 

For still the burden of thy minstrelsy 
Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's 
matchless eye. 

0, wake once more! how rude soever the hand 

That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; 20 

0, wake once more ! though scarce my skill command 



12 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay: 
Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, 

And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, 
Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, 25 

The wizard note has not been touched in vain. 
Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! 

I 

The stag at eve had drunk his fill. 

Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, 

And deep his midnight lair had made 30 

In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; 

But when the sun his beacon red 

Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 

The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay 

Resounded up the rocky way, 35 

And faint, from farther distance borne, 

Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 

II 

As Chief, who hears his warder call, 

*'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,'* 

The antlered monarch of the waste 40 

Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 

But ere his fleet career he took, 

The dewdrops from his flanks he shook ; 

Like crested leader proud and high 

Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; 45 

A moment gazed adown the dale, 

A moment snuffed the tainted gale, 

A moment listened to the cry. 

That thickened as the chase drew nigh ; 



CANTO I THE CHASE 

Then, as the headmost foes appeared, 
With one brave bound the copse he cleared, 
And, stretching forward free and far, 
Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 

Ill 

Yelled on the view the opening pack ; 
Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; 
To many a mingled sound at once 
The awakened mountain gave response. 
A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong. 
Clattered a hundred steeds along. 
Their peal the merry horns rung out, 
A hundred voices joined the shout; 
With hark and whoop and wild halloo, 
No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 
Far from the tumult fled the roe. 
Close in her covert cowered the doe. 
The falcon, from her cairn on high. 
Cast on the rout a wondering eye, 
Till far beyond her piercing ken 
The hurricane had swept the glen. 
Faint, and more faint, its failing din 
Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn. 
And silence settled, wide and still. 
On the lone wood and mighty hill. 

IV 
Less loud the sounds of sylvan war 
Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, 
And roused the cavern where, 'tis told, 
A giant made his den of old; 



U THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto l 

For ere that steep ascent was won, 

High in his pathway hung the sun, 

And many a gallant, stayed perforce, so 

Was fain to breathe his faltering horse. 

And of the trackers of the deer 

Scarce half the lessening pack was near: 

So shrewdly on the mountain-side 

Had the bold burst their mettle tried. sr. 



The noble stag was pausing now 

Upon the mountain's southern brow, 

Where broad extended, far beneath, 

The varied realms of fair Mentieth. 

With anxious eye he wandered o'er 90 

Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 

And pondered refuge from his toil, 

By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. 

But nearer was the copsewood gray 

That waved and wept on Loch Achray, 95 

And mingled with the pine trees blue 

On the bold cliffs of Ben venue. 

Fresh vigor with the hope returned, 

With flying foot the heath he spurned. 

Held westward with unwearied race, 100 

And left behind the panting chase. 

VI 
'Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er. 
As swept the hunt through Cambusmore; 
What reins were tightened in despair, 
When rose Benledi's ridge in air; 105 



CANTO I THE CHASE 15 

Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, 

Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith, — 

For twice that day, from shore to shore, 

The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 

Few were the stragglers, following far, no 

That reached the lake of Vennachar; 

And when the Brigg of Turk was won, 

The headmost horseman rode alone. 

VII 

Alone, but with unbated zeal. 

That horseman plied the scourge and steel ; 115 

For jaded now, and spent with toil, 

Embossed with foam, and dark with soil. 

While every gasp with sobs he drew. 

The laboring stag strained full in view. 

Two dogs of black St. Hubert's breed, 120 

Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed. 

Fast on his flying traces came, 

And all but won that desperate game ; 

For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, 

Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds staunch ; 125 

Nor nearer might the dogs attain, 

Nor farther might the quarry strain. 

Thus up the margin of the lake, 

Between the precipice and brake. 

O'er stock and rock their race they take. 130 

VIII 

The Hunter marked that mountain high. 
The lone lake's western boundary, 
And deemed the stag must turn to bay, 



16 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto I 

Where that huge rampart barred the way ; 

Already glorying in the prize, 135 

Measured his antlers with his eyes; 

For the death-wound and death-halloo 

Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew : — 

But thundering as he came prepared, 

With ready arm and weapon bared, i4o 

The wily quarry shunned the shock. 

And turned him from the opposing rock ; 

Then, dashing down a darksome glen. 

Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken. 

In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook 145 

His solitary refuge took. 

There, while close couched, the thicket shed 

Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, 

He heard the baffled dogs in vain 

Rave through the hollow pass amain, 150 

Chiding the rocks that yelled again. 

IX 

Close on the hounds the Hunter came. 

To cheer them on the vanished game ; 

But, stumbling in the rugged dell. 

The gallant horse exhausted fell. 155 

The impatient rider strove in vain 

To rouse him with the spur and rein. 

For the good steed, his labors o'er. 

Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more ; 

Then, touched with pity and remorse, leo 

He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 

"I little thought, when first thy rein 

I slacked upon the banks of Seine, 



CANTO I THE CHASE 17 

That Highland eagle e'er should feed 
On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed ! 155 

Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, 
That costs thy life, my gallant gray!*' 



Then through the dell his horn resounds. 

From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 

Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, 170 

The sulky leaders of the chase ; 

Close to their master's side they pressed, 

With drooping tail and humbled crest; 

But still the dingle's hollow throat 

Prolonged the swelling bugle note. 1:5 

The owlets started from their dream. 

The eagles answered with their scream, 

Round and around the sounds were cast 

Till echo seemed an answering blast; 

And on the Hunter hied his way, iso 

To join some comrades of the day. 

Yet often paused, so strange the road. 

So wondrous were the scenes it showed. 

XI 

The western waves of ebbing day 

Rolled o'er the glen their level way; m 

Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 

Was bathed in floods of living fire. 

But not a setting beam could glow 

Within the dark ravines below. 

Where twined the path in shadow hid, 190 

Round many a rocky pyramid. 



18 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

Shooting abruptly from the dell 

Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; 

Round many an insulated mass, 

The native bulwarks of the pass, 195 

Huge as the tower which builders vain 

Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 

The rocky summits, split and rent, 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement. 

Or seemed fantastically set 200 

With cupola or minaret. 

Wild crests as pagod ever decked. 

Or mosque of Eastern architect. 

Nor were these earth-born castles bare. 

Nor lacked they many a banner fair; 205 

For, from their shivered brows displayed, 

Far o'er the unfathomable glade. 

All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen, 

The brier-rose fell in streamers green. 

And creeping shrubs of thousand dyes, 210 

Waved in the west wind's summer sighs. 

XII 

Boon nature scattered, free and wild. 

Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 

Here eglantine embalmed the air. 

Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; 215 

The primrose pale and violet flower. 

Found in each cleft a narrow bower; 

Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 

Emblems of punishment and pride. 

Grouped their dark hues with every stain 220 

The weather-beaten crags retain. 



CANTO I THE CHASE 19 

With boughs that quaked at every breath, 

Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; 

Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 

Cast anchor in the rifted rock; 225 

A.nd, higher yet, the pine tree hung 

His shattered trunk, and frequent flung. 

Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high. 

His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. 

Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, m 

Where glistening streamers waved and danced, 

The wanderer's eye could barely view 

The summer heaven's delicious blue; 

So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 

The scenery of a fairy dream. 2:15 

XIH 
Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 
A narrow inlet, still and deep. 
Affording scarce such breadth of brim 
As served the wild duck's brood to swim. 
Lost for a space, through thickets veering, 240 
But broader when again appearing. 
Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; 
And farther as the Hunter strayed. 
Still broader sweep its channels made. 245 

The shaggy mounds no longer stood, 
Emerging from the tangled wood, 
But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, 
Like castle girdled with its moat; 
Yet broader floods extending still 250 

Divide them from their parent hill. 



20 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO I 

Till each, retiring, claims to be 
An islet in an inland sea. 

XIV 
And now, to issue from the glen. 
No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 255 

Unless he climb with footing nice, 
A far projecting precipice. 
The broom's tough roots his ladder made. 
The hazel saplings lent their aid ; 
And thus an airy point he won, 260 

Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
One burnished sheet of living gold, 
Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, 
In all her length far winding lay, 
With promontory, creek, and bay, 265 

And islands that, empurpled bright. 
Floated amid the livelier light, 
And mountains that like giants stand 
To sentinel enchanted land. 

High on the south, huge Benvenue 2ro 

Down in the lake in masses threw 
Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled. 
The fragments of an earlier world ; 
A wildering forest feathered o'er 
His ruined sides and summit hoar, 275 

While on the north, through middle air, 
Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. 

XV 

From the steep promontory gazed 
The stranger, raptured and amazed, 



CANTO I THE CHASE 21 

And, ''What a scene were here/' he cried, 280 

''For princely pomp or churchman's pride! 

On this bold brow, a lordly tower ; 

In that soft vale, a lady's bower; 

On yonder meadow far away. 

The turrets of a cloister gray ; 285 

How blithely might the bugle-horn 

Chide on the lake the lingering morn ! 

How sweet at eve, the lover's lute 

Chime when the groves were still and mute ! 

And when the midnight moon should lave 290 

Her forehead in the silver wave, 

How solemn on the ear would come 

The holy matins' distant hum. 

While the deep peal's commanding tone 

Should wake, in yonder islet lone, 295 

A sainted hermit from his cell, 

To drop a bead with every knell ! 

And bugle, lute, and bell, and all. 

Should each bewildered stranger call 

To friendly feast and lighted hall. 300 

XVI 

"Blithe were it then to wander here! 

Bat now — beshrew yon nimble deer — 

Like that same hermit's, thin and spare. 

The copse must give my evening fare ; 

Some mossy bank my couch must be, 305 

Some rustling oak my canopy. 

Yet pass we that; the war and chase 

Give little choice of resting place; — 

A summer night in greenwood spent 



22 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

Were but tomorrow's merriment: sio 

But hosts may in these wilds abound, 

Such as are better miss'd than found; 

To meet with Highland plunderers here 

Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — 

I am alone ; — my bugle-strain 

May call some straggler of the train ; ais 

Or, fall the worst that may betide, 

Ere now this falchion has been tried/' 

XVII 
But scarce again his horn he wound. 
When lo! forth starting at the sound, sao 

From underneath an aged oak 
That slanted from the islet rock, 
A damsel guider of its way, 
A little skiff shot to the bay. 
That round the promontory steep 325 

Led its deep line in graceful sweep. 
Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 
The weeping willow twig to lave. 
And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 
The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 330 

The boat had touched this silver strand 
Just as the Hunter left his stand, 
And stood concealed amid the brake. 
To view this Lady of the Lake. 
The maiden paused, as if again 335 

She thought to catch the distant strain. 
With head upraised, and look intent. 
And eye and ear attentive bent. 
And locks flung back, and lips apart, 



CANTO I THE CHASE 23 

Like monument of Grecian art, 340 

In listening mood, she seemed to stand, 
The guardian Naiad of the strand. 

XVIII 
And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 
A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 
Of finer form, or lovelier face ! 345 

What though the sun, with ardent frown, 
Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, — 
The sportive toil, which, short and light. 
Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, 
Served too in hastier swell to show 350 

Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 
What though no rule of courtly grace 
To measured mood had trained her pace, — 
A foot more light, a step more true, 
Ne'er from the heath -flower dashed the dew ; 355 
E'en the slight harebell raised its head. 
Elastic from her airy tread: 
What though upon her speech there hung 
The accents of the mountain tongue,— 
Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, 300 

The list'ner held his breath to hear! 

XIX 

A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid. 

Her satin snood, her silken plaid, 

Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. 

And seldom was a snood amid aes 

Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid. 

Whose glossy black to shame might bring 



24 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO l 

The plumage of the raven's wing; 

And seldom o'er a breast so fair 

Mantled a plaid with modest care, 370 

And never brooch the folds combined 

Above a heart more good and kind. 

Her kindness and her worth to spy, 

You need but gaze on Ellen's eye; 

Not Katrine in her mirror blue, 375 

Gives back the shaggy banks more true, 

Than every free-born glance confessed 

The guileless movements of her breast; 

Whether joy danced in her dark eye. 

Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, aso 

Or filial love was glowing there. 

Or meek devotion poured a prayer. 

Or tale of injury called forth 

The indignant spirit of the North. 

One only passion unrevealed 335 

With maiden pride the maid concealed. 

Yet no less purely felt the flame : — 

0, need I tell that passion's name? 

XX 

Impatient of the silent horn, 
Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 390 

*' Father!" she cried; the rocks around 
Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 
Awhile she paused, no answer came— 
"Malcolm, was thine the blast?" the name 
Less resolutely uttered fell, 395 

The echoes could not catch the swell. 
''A stranger I," the Huntsman said. 



CANTO I THE CHASE 25 

Advancing from the hazel shade. 

The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar, 

Pushed her light shallop from the shore, 4oo 

And when a space was gained between, 

Closer she drew her bosom's screen; — 

So forth the startled swan would swing, 

So turn to prune his ruffled wing. 

Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, 405 

She paused, and on the stranger gazed. 

Not his the form, nor his the eye. 

That youthful maidens wont to fly. 

XXI 

On his bold visage middle age 

Had slightly pressed its signet sage, 4io 

Yet had not quenched the open truth 

And fiery vehemence of youth ; 

Forward and frolic glee was there. 

The will to do, the soul to dare, 

The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, 415 

Of hasty love or headlong ire. 

His limbs were cast in manly mold 

For hardy sports or contest bold; 

And though in peaceful garb arrayed. 

And weaponless except his blade, 420 

His stately mien as well implied 

A high-born heart, a martial pride. 

As if a baron's crest he wore. 

And sheathed in armor trode the shore. 

Slighting the petty need he showed, 425 

He told of his benighted road; 

His ready speech flowed fair and free, 



26 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto I 

In phrase of gentlest courtesy, 

Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland, 

Less used to sue than to command. 430 

XXII 

Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, 

And, reassured, at length replied. 

That Highland halls were open still 

To wildered wanderers of the hill. 

''Nor think you unexpected come 435 

To yon lone isle, our desert home ; 

Before the heath had lost the dew, 

This morn, a couch was pulled for you; 

On yonder mountain's purple head 

Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 44o 

And our broad nets have swept the mere. 

To furnish forth your evening cheer." — 

''Now, by the rood, my lovely maid. 

Your courtesy has erred," he said; 

"No right have I to claim, misplaced, 445 

The welcome of expected guest. 

A wanderer, here by fortune tost. 

My way, my friends, my courser lost, 

I ne'er before, believe me, fair. 

Have ever drawn your mountain air, 450 

Till on this lake's romantic strand 

I found a fay in fairyland!" — 

xxni 

"I well believe," the maid replied. 

As her light skiff approached the side, — 

"I well believe, that ne'er before 455 



CANTO I THE CHASE 27 

Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore; 

But yet, as far as yesternight, 

Old Allan-bane foretold your plight, — 

A gray-haired sire, whose eye intent 

Was on the visioned future bent. 46o 

He saw your steed, a dappled gray. 

Lie dead beneath the birchen way ; 

Painted exact your form and mien, 

Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green. 

That tasseled horn so gayly gilt, 465 

That falchion's crooked blade and hilt. 

That cap with heron plumage trim, 

And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 

He bade that all should ready be 

To grace a guest of fair degree ; 470 

But light I held his prophecy, 

And deemed it was my father's horn 

Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne." 

XXIV 

The stranger smiled : — ' ' Since to your home 

A destined errant-knight I come, 475 

Announced by prophet sooth and old. 

Doomed doubtless, for achievement bold, 

I'll lightly front each high emprise 

For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 

Permit me first the task to guide 48o 

Your fairy frigate o'er the tide." 

The maid, with smile suppress'd and sly, 

The toil unwonted saw him try ; 

For seldom, sure, if e'er before, 

His noble hand had grasped an oar : m 



28 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 

And o'er the lake the shallop flew; 

With heads erect and whimpering cry 

The hounds behind their passage ply. 

Nor frequent does the bright oar break 490 

The darkening mirror of the lake, 

Until the rocky isle they reach, 

And moor their shallop on the beach. 

XXV 

The stranger viewed the shore around ; 

'Twas all so close with copsewood bound, 495 

Nor track nor pathway might declare 

That human foot frequented there, 

Until the mountain maiden showed 

A clambering unsuspected road, 

That winded through the tangled screen, 500 

And open'd on a narrow green. 

Where weeping birch and willow round 

With their long fibers swept the ground. 

Here, for retreat in dangerous hour. 

Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 505 

XXVI 

It was a lodge of ample size, 

But strange of structure and device; 

Of such materials, as around 

The workman's hand had readiest found. 

Lopped of their boughs, theirhoartrunks bared, 510 

And by the hatchet rudely squared 

To give the walls their destined height,. 

The sturdy oak and ash unite ; 



CANTO I THE CHASE 29 

While moss and clay and leaves combined 

To fence each crevice from the wind. 515 

The lighter pine-trees overhead 

Their slender length for rafters spread, 

And withered heath and rushes dry 

Supplied a russet canopy. 

Due westward, fronting to the green, 520 

A rural portico was seen, 

Aloft on native pillars borne, 

Of mountain fir with bark unshorn. 

Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 

The ivy and Idaean vine, 525 

The clematis, the favored flower 

Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 

And every hardy plant could bear 

Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. 

An instant in this porch she staid, 530 

And gayly to the stranger said: 

"On heaven and on thy lady call, 

And enter the enchanted hall!" 

XXVII 
"My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, 
My gentle guide, in following thee." — 535 

He crossed the threshold, — and a clang 
Of angry steel that instant rang. 
To his bold brow his spirit rushed, 
But soon for vain alarm he blushed, 
When on the floor he saw displayed, 540 

Cause of the din, a naked blade 
Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung, 
Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; 



30 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

For all around, the walls to grace, 

Hung trophies of the fight or chase : 545 

A target there, a bugle here, 

A battle-axe, a hunting- spear. 

And broadswords, bows, and arrows store. 

With the tusked trophies of the boar. 

Here grins the wolf as when he died, 550 

And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 

The frontlet of the elk adorns, 

Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; 

Pennons and flags defaced and stained, 

That blackening streaks of blood retained, 555 

And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white. 

With otter's fur and seal's unite, 

In rude and uncouth tapestry all. 

To garnish forth the sylvan hall. 

XXVIII 

The wondering stranger round him gazed, seo 

And next the fallen weapon raised : — 

Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 

Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 

And as the brand he poised and swayed, 

' ' I never knew but one, ' ' he said, 555 

' ' Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 

A blade like this in battlefield. '' 

She sighed, then smiled and took the word : 

*'You see the guardian champion's sword; 

As light it trembles in his hand sro 

As in my grasp a hazel wand ; 

My sire's tall form might grace the part 

Of Ferragus or Ascabart, 



CANTO I THE CHASE 31 

But in the absent giant's hold 

Are women now, and menials old/' sm 

XXIX 

The mistress of the mansion came, 

Mature of age, a graceful dame, 

Whose easy step and stately port 

Had well become a princely court. 

To whom, though more than kindred knew, 58o 

Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 

Meet welcome to her guest she made, 

And every courteous rite was paid 

That hospitahty could claim, 

Though all unasked his birth and name. 535 

Such then the reverence to a guest. 

That fellest foe might join the feast. 

And from his deadliest foeman's door 

Unquestioned turn, the banquet o'er. 

At length his rank the stranger names, 590 

*'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz- James; 

Lord of a barren heritage. 

Which his brave sires, from age to age, 

By their good swords had held with toil; 

His sire had fallen in such turmoil, 59s 

And he, God wot, was forced to stand 

Oft for his right with blade in hand. 

This morning with Lord Moray's train 

He chased a stalwart stag in vain. 

Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, ew 

Lost his good steed, and wandered here '* 



32 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO l 

XXX 

Fain would the Knight in turn require 

The name and state of Ellen's sire. 

Well showed the elder lady's mien 

That courts and cities she had seen ; eos 

Ellen, though more her looks displayed 

The simple grace of sylvan maid, 

In speech and gesture, form and face, 

Showed she was come of gentle race. 

'Twere strange in ruder rank to find eio 

Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 

Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave. 

Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; 

Or Ellen, innocently gay. 

Turned all inquiry light away: — 615 

''Weird women we! by dale and down 

We dwell, afar from tower and town. 

We stem the flood, we ride the blast, * 

On wandering knights our spells we cast; 

While viewless minstrels touch the string, 620 

'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.'' 

She sung, and still a harp unseen 

Filled up the symphony between. 

XXXI 

SONG 

''Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er. 

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking: 625 
Dream of battled fields no more. 

Days of danger, nights of waking. 
In our isle's enchanted hall, 



CANTO I THE CHASE 33 

Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 
Fairy strains of music fall, 63o 

Every sense in slumber dewing. 
Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, 
Dream of fighting fields no more : 
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking 
Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 635 

*'No rude sound shall reach thine ear. 

Armor's clang or war-steed champing, 
Trump nor pibroch summon here 

Mustering clan or squadron tramping. 
Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 64o 

At the daybreak from the fallow, 
And the bittern sound his drum, 

Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
Ruder sounds shall none be near. 
Guards nor warders challenge here, 645 

Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing. 
Shouting clans or squadrons stamping." 

XXXH 

She paused,— then, blushing, led the lay 

To grace the stranger of the day. 

Her mellow notes awhile prolong 65o 

The cadence of the flowing song. 

Till to her lips in measured frame 

The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 

SONG CONTINUED 
''Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; 

While our slumbrous spells assail ye, ess 

Dream not, with the rising sun, 

Bugles here shall sound reveille. 



54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 

Sleep! the deer is in his den; 

Sleep ! thy hounds are by thee lying ; 
Sleep ! nor dream in yonder glen mtt 

How thy gallant steed lay dying. 
Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; 
Think not of the rising sun, 
For at dawning to assail ye 
Here no bugles sound reveille. " ess 

xxxni 

The hall was cleared,— the stranger's bed, 

Was there of mountain heather spread, 

Where oft a hundred guests had lain. 

And dreamed their forest sports again. 

But vainly did the heath-flower shed ero 

Its moorland fragrance round his head • 

Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest 

The fever of his troubled breast. 

In broken dreams the image rose 

Of varied perils, pains and woes : 67s 

His steed now flounders in the brake, 

Now sinks his barge upon the lake; 

Now leader of a broken host, 

His standard falls, his honor's lost. 

Then, — from my couch may heavenly might eso 

Chase that worse phantom of the night!— 

Again returned the scenes of youth. 

Of confident undoubting truth ; 

Again his soul he interchanged 

With friends whose hearts were long estranged, ess 

They come, in dim procession led, 

The cold, the faithless, and the dead ; 



CANTO I THE CHASE 35 

As warm each hand, each brow as gay, 

As if they parted yesterday. 

And doubt distracts him at the view, — 690 

0, were his senses false or true? 

Dreamed he of death or broken vow. 

Or is it all a vision now? 

XXXIV 
At length, with Ellen in a grove 
He seemed to walk and speak of love ; 695 

She listened with a blush and sigh, 
His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 
He sought her yielded hand to clasp, 
And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: 
The phantom's sex was changed and gone, too 
Upon its head a helmet shone ; 
Slowly enlarged to giant size. 
With darkened cheek and threatening eyes. 
The grisly visage, stern and hoar. 
To Ellen still a likeness bore. — ros 

He woke, and, panting with affright, 
Recalled the vision of the night. 
The hearth's decaying brands were red, ' 
And deep and dusky luster shed, 
Half showing, half concealing, all no 

The uncouth trophies of the hall. 
'Mid those the stranger fixed his eye 
Where that huge falchion hung on high, 
And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng. 
Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, ris 
Until, the giddy whirl to cure, 
He rose and sought the moonshine pure. 



.^6' THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO I 

XXXV 

The wild rose, eglantine, and broom 

Wasted around their rich perfume: 

The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm, 720 

The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 

The silver light, with quivering glance, 

Played on the water's still expanse,— 

Wild were the heart whose passion's sway 

Could rage beneath the sober ray ! 725 

He felt its calm, that warrior guest. 

While thus he communed with his breast: — 

''Why is it, at each turn I trace 

Some memory of that exiled race? 

Can I not mountain maiden spy, 730 

But she must bear the Douglas eye? 

Can I not view a Highland brand. 

But it must match the Douglas hand? 

Can I not frame a fevered dream, 

But still the Douglas is the theme? 735 

I'll dream no more,— by manly mind 

Not even in sleep is will resigned. 

My midnight orisons said o'er, 

I'll turn to rest, and dream no more/' 

His midnight orisons he told, 740 

A prayer with every bead of gold. 

Consigned to Heaven his cares and woes, 

And sunk in undisturbed repose, 

Until the heath-cock shrilly crew. 

And morning dawned on Benvenue. 745 



CANTO SECOND 

THE ISLAND 
I 

At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, 

'Tis morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, 
All Nature's children feel the matin spring 

Of life reviving, with reviving day; 

And while yon little bark glides down the bay, 5 
Wafting the stranger on his way again, 

Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, 
And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, 
Mixed with the sounding harp, white-haired 
Allan-bane! 

II 

SONG 

"Not faster yonder rowers' might 10 

Flings from their oars the spray. 
Not faster yonder rippling bright, 
That tracks the shallop's course in light, 

Melts in the lake away, 
Than men from memory erase 15 

The benefits of former days ; 
Then, stranger, go ! good speed the while, 
Nor think again of the lonely isle. 

''High place to thee in royal court, 
High place in battled line, 20 



38 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport. 
Where beauty sees the brave resort, 

The honored meed be thine! 
True be thy sword, thy friend sincere. 
Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, 26 

And lost in love's and friendship's smile 
Be memory of the lonely isle ! 

Ill 
SONG CONTINUED 
''But if beneath yon southern sky 

A plaided stranger roam. 
Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, a* 

And sunken cheek and heavy eye, 

Pine for his Highland home ; 
Then, warrior, then be thine to show 
The care that soothes a wanderer's woe; 
Remember then thy hap erewhile, 35 

A stranger in the lonely isle. 

Or if on life's uncertain main 

Mishap shall mar thy sail; 
If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, 
Woe, want, and exile thou sustain 4o 

Beneath the fickle gale ; 
Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, 
On thankless courts, or friends estranged. 
But come where kindred worth shall smile, 
To greet thee in the lonely isle." 45 

IV 
As died the sounds upon the tide, 
The shallop reached the mainland side. 



CA.NTO II THE ISLAND 39 

And ere his onward way he took, 

The stranger cast a lingering look, 

Where easily his eye might reach so 

The Harper on the islet beach. 

Reclined against a blighted tree, 

As wasted, gray, and worn as he. 

To minstrel meditation given, 

His reverend brow was raised to heaven, 55 

As from the rising sun to claim 

A sparkle of inspiring flame. 

His hand, reclined upon the wire. 

Seemed watching the awakening fire; 

So still he sat as those who wait eo 

Till judgment speak the doom of fate; 

So still, as if no breeze might dare 

To lift one lock of hoary hair; 

So still, as life itself were fled 

In the last sound his harp had sped. 65 



Upon a rock with lichens wild. 

Beside him Ellen sat and smiled. — 

Smiled she to see the stately drake 

Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, 

While her vexed spaniel from the beach 70 

Bayed at the prize beyond his reach. 

Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows. 

Why deepened on her cheek the rose ? — 

Forgive, forgive. Fidelity! 

Perchance the maiden smiled to see 75 

Yon parting lingerer wave adieu. 

And stop and turn to wave anew ; 



40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

And, lovely ladies, ere your ire 

Condemn the heroine of my lyre, 

Show me the fair would scorn to spy so 

And prize such conquest of her eye! 

VI 

While yet he loitered on the spot, 

It seemed as Ellen marked him not; 

But when he turned him to the glade, 

One courteous parting sign she made; 85 

And after, oft the knight would say, 

That not when prize of festal day 

Was dealt him by the brightest fair 

Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, 

So highly did his bosom swell 90 

As at that simple mute farewell. 

Now with a trusty mountain-guide, 

And his dark stag-hounds by his side, 

He parts, — the maid, unconscious still. 

Watched him wind slowly round the hill; 95 

But when his stately form was hid, 

The guardian in her bosom chid, — 

*'Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!'' 

'Twas thus upbraiding conscience said, — 

*'Not so had Malcolm idly hung ico 

On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue ; 

Not so had Malcolm strained his eye 

Another step than thine to spy."— 

**Wake, Allan-bane," aloud she cried 

To the old minstrel by her side, — 105 

** Arouse thee from thy moody dream! 

ril give thy harp heroic theme, 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 41 

And warm thee with a noble name ; 

Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!" 

Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, no 

When deep the conscious maiden blushed ; 

For of his clan, in hall and bower. 

Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. 

VII 
The* minstrel waked his harp, — three times 
Arose the well-known martial chimes, 115 

And thrice their high heroic pride 
In melancholy murmurs died. 
*' Vainly thou bidst, noble maid,'' 
Clasping his withered hands, he said, 
"Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, 120 

Though all unwont to bid in vain. 
Alas! than mine a mightier hand 
Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned ! 
I touch the chords of joy, but low 
And mournful answer notes of woe ; 126 

And the proud march which victors tread 
Sinks in the wailing for the dead. 
0, well for me, if mine alone 
That dirge's deep prophetic tone! 
If, as my tuneful fathers said, 130 

This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, 
Can thus its master's fate foretell. 
Then welcome be the minstrel's knell! 

VIII 
**But ah! dear lady, thus it sighed, 
The eve thy sainted mother died; 135 



42 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ll 

And such the sounds which, while I strove 

To wake a lay of war or love, 

Came marring all the festal mirth, 

Appalling me who gave them birth, 

And, disobedient to my call, 140 

Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall, 

Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, 

Were exiled from their native heaven. — 

! if yet worse mishap and woe 

My master's house must undergo, 145 

Or aught but weal to Ellen fair 

Brood in these accents of despair. 

No future bard, sad Harp ! shall fling 

Triumph or rapture from thy string; 

One short, one final strain shall flow, i«> 

Fraught with unutterable woe, 

Then shivered shall thy fragments lie. 

Thy master cast him down and die!'' 

IX 
Soothing she answered him : ' 'Assuage, 
Mine honored friend, the fears of age ; 155 

All melodies to thee are known 
That harp has rung or pipe has blown, 
In Lowland vale or Highland glen, 
From Tweed to Spey — what marvel, then. 
At times unbidden notes should rise, leo 

Confusedly bound in memory's ties, 
Entangling, as they rush along, 
The war-march with the funeral song? — 
Small ground is now for boding fear ; , 
Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. les 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 43 

My sire, in native virtue great, 

Resigning lordship, lands, and state, 

Not then to fortune more resigned 

Than yonder oak might give the wind ; 

The graceful foliage storms may reave, j^q 

The noble stem they cannot grieve. 

For me, '' — she stooped, and, looking round, 

Plucked a blue harebell from the ground, — 

' Tor me whose memory scarce conveys 

An image of more splendid days, ns 

This little flower that loves the lea 

May well my simple emblem be ; 

It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose 

That in the King's own garden grows; 

And when I place it in my hair, iso 

Allan, a bard is bound to swear 

He ne'er saw coronet so fair. " 

Then playfully the chaplet wild 

She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. 

X 

Her smile, her speech, with winning sway, iss 

Wiled the old Harper's mood away. 

With such a look as hermits throw 

When angels stoop to soothe their woe, 

He gazed till fond regret and pride 

Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied : i9o 

''Loveliest and best! thou little know'st 

The rank, the honors, thou hast lost ! 

0, might I live to see thee grace. 

In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, 

To see my favorite's step advance 195 



44 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

The lightest in the courtly dance, 

The cause of every gallant's sigh, 

And leading star of every eye, 

And theme of every minstrePs art, 

The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!'' ^ 

XI 
' Tair dreams are these, ' ' the maiden cried, — 
Light v^as her accent, yet she sighed, — 
' 'Yet is this mossy rock to me 
Worth splendid chair and canopy ; 
Nor would my footstep spring more gay 
In courtly dance than blithe strathspey. 
Nor half so pleased mine ear incline 
To royal minstrel's lay as thine. 
And then for suitors proud and high. 
To bend before my conquering eye, — 
Thou, flattering bard ! thyself wilt say 
That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. 
The Saxon scourge, Clan- Alpine's pride. 
The terror of Loch Lomond's side. 
Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay 
A Lennox foray — for a day. " — 

XII 

The ancient bard her glee repressed : 
''111 hast thou chosen theme for jest! 
For who, through all this western wild. 
Named Black Sir Roderick e'er and smiled ? 230 
In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; 
I saw, when back the dirk he drew, 
i Courtiers give place before the stride 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 45 

Of the undaunted homicide ; 

And since, though outlawed, hath his hand 225 

Full sternly kept his mountain land. 

Who else dared give — ah ! woe the day, 

That I such hated truth should say ! — 

The Douglas, like a stricken deer, 

Disowned by every noble peer, 230 

Even the rude refuge we have here ? 

Alas, this wild marauding Chief 

Alone might hazard our relief, 

And, now thy maiden charms expand, 

Looks for his guerdon in thy hand ; 235 

Full soon may dispensation sought. 

To back his suit, from Rome be brought. 

Then, though an exile on the hill. 

Thy father, as the Douglas, still 

Be held in reverence and fear ; 240 

And, though to Roderick thou'rt so dear 

That thou mightst guide with silken thread, 

Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread. 

Yet, loved maid, thy mirth refrain ! 

Thy hand is on a lion^s mane.'' — 245 

XIII 

"Minstrel,'' the maid replied, and high 

Her father's soul glanced from her eye, 

*'My debts to Roderick's house I know: 

All that a mother could bestow 

To Lady Margaret's care I owe, 260 

Since first an orphan in the wild 

She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; 

To her brave chieftain son, from ire 



46 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, 

A deeper, holier debt is owed ; .^s 

And, could I pay it with my blood, 

Allan ! Sir Roderick should command 

My blood, my life, — but not my hand. 

Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell 

A votaress in Maronnan's cell; 20 

Rather through realms beyond the sea, 

Seeking the world's cold charity, 

Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, 

And ne'er the name of Douglas heard. 

And outcast pilgrim will she rove, 055 

Than wed the man she cannot love. 

XIV 

'Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray, — 

That pleading look, what can it say 

But what I own ? — I grant him brave. 

But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave ; 070 

And generous, — save vindictive mood 

Or jealous transport chafe his blood : 

I grant him true to friendly band, 

As his claymore is to his hand ; 

But oh ! that very blade of steel 275 

More mercy for a foe would feel : 

I grant him liberal, to fling 

Among his clan the wealth they bring. 

When back by lake and glen they wind, 

And in the Lowland leave behind, 280 

Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, 

A mass of ashes slaked with blood. 

The hand that for my father fought 



CANTO n THE ISLAND 47 

I honor, as his daughter ought; 

But can I clasp it reeking red 285 

From peasants slaughtered in their shed ? 

No! wildly while his virtues gleam, 

They make his passions darker seem. 

And flash along his spirit high, 

Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. .,90 

While yet a child, — and children know. 

Instinctive taught, the friend and foe, — 

I shuddered at his brow of gloom. 

His shadowy plaid and sable plume ; 

A maiden grown, I ill could bear 295 

His haughty mien and lordly air: 

But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim. 

In serious mood, to Roderick's name, 

I thrill with anguish! or, if e'er 

A Douglas knew the word, with fear. 300 

To change such odious theme were best, — 

What think 'st thou of our stranger guest ?' ' — 

XV 

''What think I of him? — woe the while 

That brought such wanderer to our isle ! 

Thy father's battle -brand, of yore 305 

For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, 

What time he leagued, no longer foes, 

His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, 

Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 

The footsteps of a secret foe. 310 

If courtly spy hath harbored here. 

What may we for the Douglas fear ? 

What for this island deemed of old 



48 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? 

If neither spy nor foe, I pray sis 

What yet may jealous Roderick say ? — 

Nay, wave not thy disdainful head ! 

Bethink thee of the discord dread 

That kindled when at Beltane game 

Thou ledst the dance with Malcolm Graeme ; 320 

Still, though thy sire the peace renewed, 

Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud: 

Beware ! — But hark ! what sounds are these ? 

My dull ears catch no faltering breeze, 

No weeping birch nor aspens wake, 325 

Nor breath is dimpling in the lake ; 

Still is the canna's hoary beard, 

Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard — 

And hark again ! some pipe of war 

Sends the bold pibroch from afar." 330 

XVI 

Far up the lengthened lake were spied 

Four darkening specks upon the tide. 

That, slow enlarging on the view, 

Four manned and masted barges grew, 

And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 335 

Steered full upon the lonely isle ; 

The point of Brianchoil they passed. 

And, to the windward as they cast, 

Against the sun they gave to shine 

The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. 340 

Nearer and nearer as they bear, 

Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 

Now might you see the tartans brave, 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 49 

And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 

Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 345 

As his tough oar the rower plies ; 

See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 

The wave ascending into smoke ; 

See the proud pipers on the bow, 

And mark the gaudy streamers flow 350 

From their loud chanters down, and sweep 

The furrowed bosom of the deep, 

As, rushing through the lake amain. 

They plied the ancient Highland strain. 

XVII 

Ever, as on they bore, more loud 355 

And louder rung the pibroch proud. 

At first the sounds, by distance tame, 

Mellowed along the waters came. 

And, lingering long by cape and bay, 

Wailed every harsher note away, 3go 

Then bursting bolder on the ear, 

The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, 

Those thrilling sounds that call the might 

Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 

Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 305 

The mustering hundreds shake the glen. 

And hurrying at the signal dread, 

The battered earth returns their tread. 

Then prelude light, of livelier tone, 

Expressed their merry marching on, ^0 

Ere pale of closing battle rose. 

With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; 

And mimic din of stroke and ward, 



56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

As broadsword upon target jarred ; 

And groaning pause, ere yet again, srs 

Condensed, the battle yelled amain : 

The rapid charge, the rallying shout, 

Retreat borne headlong into rout, 

And bursts of triumph, to declare 

Clan- Alpine's conquest — all were there. 3^0 

Nor ended thus the strain, but slow 

Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, 

And changed the conquering clarion swell 

For wild lament o'er those that fell. 

XVIII 

The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill 355 

Were busy with their echoes still; 

And, when they slept, a vocal strain 

Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, 

While loud a hundred clansmen raise 

Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. 390 

Each boatman, bending to his oar. 

With measured sweep the burden bore. 

In such wild cadence as the breeze 

Makes through December's leafless trees. 

The chorus first could Allan know, 395 

''Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! iro!" 

And near, and nearer as they rowed. 

Distinct the martial ditty flowed. 

XIX 

BOAT SONG 
''Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! 

Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine ! 400 
Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 51 

Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line ! 

Heaven send it happy dew, 

Earth lend it sap anew, 
Gaily to bourgeon and broadly to grow, 4^5 

While every Highland glen 

Sends our shout back again, 
*Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! ' 

*'Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain. 

Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade ; 410 

When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the 
mountain, 
The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. 
Moored in the rifted rock. 
Proof to the tempest's shock. 
Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow ; 415 

Mentieth and Breadalbane, then, 
Echo his praise again, 
*Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' 

XX 

SONG CONTINUED 

' 'Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, 

And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied ; 420 

Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, 

And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. 

Widow and Saxon maid 

Long shall lament our raid. 
Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe ; 405 

Lennox and Leven-glen 

Shake when they hear again, 
*Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' 



52 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

''Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands! 
Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine ! t^o 
0, that the rosebud that graces yon islands 

Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine ! 
0, that some seedling gem, 
Worthy such noble stem 
Honored and blest in their shadow might grow ! 435 
Loud should Clan-Alpine then 
Ring from her deepmost glen, 
'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' '' 

XXI 
With all her joyful female band 
Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 440 

Loose on the breeze their tresses flew. 
And high their snowy arms they threw. 
As echoing back with shrill acclaim, 
And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; 
While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 445 
The darling passion of his heart, 
The Dame called Ellen to the strand, 
To greet her kinsman ere he land : 
''Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, 
And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?'' 450 

Reluctantly and slow, the maid 
The unwelcome summoning obeyed. 
And when a distant bugle rung. 
In the mid-path aside she sprung: — 
''List, Allan-bane! From mainland cast 455 
I hear my father's signal blast. 
Be ours, " she cried, "the skiff to guide, 
And waft him from the mountain-side." 



CANTO II 



THE ISLAND 53 



Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, 

She darted to her shallop light, 46o 

And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, 

For her dear form, his mother's band. 

The islet far behind her lay, 

And she had landed in the bay. 

XXII 

Some feelings are to mortals given 465 

With less of earth in them than heaven ; 

And, if there be a human tear 

From passion's dross refined and clear, 

A tear so limpid and so meek 

It would not stain an angel's cheek, 470 

'Tis that which pious fathers shed 

Upon a duteous daughter's head ! 

And, as the Douglas to his breast 

His darling Ellen closely pressed. 

Such holy drops her tresses steeped, 475 

Though 'twas an hero's eye that weeped. 

Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 

Her filial welcomes crowded hung. 

Marked she that fear — affection's proof — 

Still held a graceful youth aloof; 48o 

No! not till Douglas named his name, 

Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. 

XXIII 

Allan, with wistful look the while. 

Marked Roderick landing on the isle; 

His master piteously he eyed, 485 

Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride. 



54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

Then dashed with hasty hand away 

From his dimmed eye the gathering spray ; 

And Douglas, as his hand he laid 

On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said : 490 

* *Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy 

In my poor follower's glistening eye? 

ril tell thee: — he recalls the day 

When in my praise he led the lay 

O'er the arched gate of Both well proud, 495 

While many a minstrel answered loud, 

When Percy's Norman pennon, won 

In bloody field, before me shone. 

And twice ten knights, the least a name 

As mighty as yon Chief may claim, so© 

Gracing my pomp, behind me came. 

Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud 

Was I of all that marshalled crowd, 

Though the waned crescent owned my might, 

And in my train trooped lord and knight, 505 

Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays. 

And Both well's bard flung back my praise. 

As when this old man's silent tear. 

And this poor maid's affection dear, 

A welcome give more kind and true 510 

Than aught my better fortunes knew. 

Forgive, my friend, a father's boast, — 

0, it out-beggars all I lost!" 

XXIV 

Delightful praise ! — like summer rose, 

That brighter in the dew-drop glows, sis 

The bashful maiden's cheek appeared, 



620 



5;25 



tJANTO II THE ISLAND 55 

For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. 

The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, 

The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide ; 

The loved caresses of the maid 

The dogs with crouch and whimper paid ; 

And, at her whistle, on her hand 

The falcon took his favorite stand, 

Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, 

Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. 

And, trust, while in such guise she stood, 

Like fabled Goddess of the wood. 

That if a father's partial thought 

O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught. 

Well might the lover's judgment fail 530 

To balance with a juster scale; 

For with each secret glance he stole, 

The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 

XXV 

Of stature fair, and slender frame. 

But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. 535 

The belted plaid and tartan hose 

Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose; 

His flaxen hair, of sunny hue. 

Curled closely round his bonnet blue. 

Trained to the chase, his eagle eye 540 

The ptarmigan in snow could spy ; 

Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, 

He knew, through Lennox and Menteith ; 

Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe 

When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, 545 

And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, 



56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

Outstripped in speed the mountaineer : 

Right up Ben Lomond could he press, 

And not a sob his toil confess. 

His form accorded with a mind 550 

Lively and ardent, frank and kind ; 

A blither heart, till Ellen came, 

Did never love nor sorrow tame ; 

It danced as lightsome in his breast 

As played the feather on his crest. 555 

Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth, 

His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth, 

And bards, who saw his features bold 

When kindled by the tales of old, 

Said, were that youth to manhood grown, sec 

Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 

Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, 

But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. 

XXVI 

Now back they wend their watery way, 

And, *'0 my sire!" did Ellen say, 566 

**Why urge thy chase so far astray? 

And why so late returned? And why" — 

The rest was in her speaking eye. 

''My child, the chase I follow far, 

T is mimicry of noble war; 570 

And with that gallant pastime reft 

Were all of Douglas I have left. 

I met young Malcolm as I strayed 

Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade; 

Nor strayed I safe, for all around 575 

Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. 



585 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 57 

This youth, though still a royal ward, 
Risked life and land to be my guard, 
And through the passes of the wood 
Guided my steps, not unpursued ; ss^ 

And Roderick shall his welcome make, 
Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. 
Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen. 
Nor peril aught for me again. " 

XXVII 

Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 

Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 

Yet, not in action, word, or eye. 

Failed aught in hospitality. 

In talk and sport they whiled away 

The morning of that summer day ; 

But at high noon a courier light 

Held secret parley with the knight. 

Whose moody aspect soon declared 

That evil were the news he heard. 

Deep thought seemed toiling in his head ; 595 

Yet was the evening banquet made 

Ere he assembled round the flame 

His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, 

And Ellen too; then cast around 

His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, goo 

As studying phrase that might avail 

Best to convey unpleasant tale. 

Long with his dagger's hilt he played. 

Then raised his haughty brow and said : — 



590 



58 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto il 

XXVIII 
' 'Short be my speech ; — nor time affords, eos 
Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 
Kinsman and father, — if such name 
Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim; 
Mine honored mother; — Ellen, — why, 
My cousin, turn away thine eye ? — ^lo 

And Graeme, in whom I hope to know 
Full soon a noble friend or foe, 
When age shall give thee thy command, 
And leading in thy native land, — 
List all ! — the King's vindictive pride eis 

Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, 
Where chiefs, with hound and hawk who came 
To share their monarch's sylvan game, 
Themselves in bloody toils were snared, 
And when the banquet they prepared, 620 

And wide their loyal portals flung, 
O'er their own gateway struggling hung. 
Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, 
From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, 
Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, ^25 
And from the silver Teviot's side; 
The dales, where martial clans did ride, 
Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. 
This tyrant of the Scottish throne, 
So faithless and so ruthless known, 63o 

Now hither comes ; his end the same. 
The same pretext of sylvan game. 
What grace for Highland Chiefs judge ye 
By fate of Border chivalry. 
Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, 635 



CANTO II 



THE ISLAND 59 



Douglas, thy stately form was seen. 

This by espial sure I know : 

Your counsel in the streight I show/' 

XXIX 
Ellen and Margaret fearfully 
Sought comfort in each other's eye, m 

Then turned their ghastly look, each one, 
This to her sire, that to her son. 
The hasty color went and came 
In the bold cheek of Malcolm Graeme, 
But from his glance it well appeared 645 

'T was but for Ellen that he feared ; 
While, sorrowful, but undismayed. 
The Douglas thus his counsel said : 
''Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar. 
It may but thunder and pass o'er. m 

Nor will I here remain an hour. 
To draw the lightning on thy bower ; 
For well thou know'st, at this gray head 
The royal bolt were fiercest sped. 
For thee, who, at thy King's command, ^55 

Canst aid him with a gallant band, 
Submission, homage, humbled pride. 
Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. 
Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, 
Ellen and I will seek apart m 

The refuge of some forest cell. 
There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, 
Till on the mountain and the moor 
The stern pursuit be passed and o'er, " — 



60 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto il 

XXX 

*'No, by mine honor," Roderick said, ees 

*'So help me Heaven, and my good blade! 

No, never ! Blasted be yon Pine, 

My fathers' ancient crest and mine, 

If from its shade in danger part 

The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! ero 

Hear my blunt speech : grant me this maid 

To wife, thy counsel to mine aid ; 

To Douglas, leagued v^ith Roderick Dhu, 

Will friends and allies flock enow ; 

Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, ers 

Will bind to us each Western Chief. 

When the loud pipes my bridal tell. 

The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, 

The guards shall start in Stirling's porch ; 

And when I light the nuptial torch, eso 

A thousand villages in flames 

Shall scare the slumbers of King James ! — 

Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, 

And, mother, cease these signs, I pray ; 

I meant not all my heat might say. — ess 

Small need of inroad or of fight, 

When the sage Douglas may unite 

Each mountain clan in friendly band. 

To guard the passes of their land, 

Till the foiled King from pathless glen ew 

Shall bootless turn him home again.'* 

XXXI 

There are who have, at midnight hour, 
In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, 



CAUTO II THE ISLAND 61 

And, on the verge that beetled o'er 

The ocean tide's incessant roar, 696 

Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, 

Till wakened by the morning beam ; 

When, dazzled by the eastern glow, 

Such startler cast his glance below, 

And saw unmeasured depth around, 7oo 

And heard unintermitted sound, 

And thought the battled fence so frail, 

It waved like cobweb in the gale; — • 

Amid his senses' giddy wheel, 

Did he not desperate impulse feel, 705 

Headlong to plunge himself below. 

And meet the worst his fears foreshow ? — 

Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound. 

As sudden ruin yawned around. 

By crossing terrors wildly tossed, 710 

Still for the Douglas fearing most, 

Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, 

To buy his safety with her hand. 

XXXII 
Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 
In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, 715 

And eager rose to speak, —but ere 
His tongue could hurry forth his fear. 
Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, 
Where death seemed combating with life ; 
For to her cheek, in feverish flood, 720 

One instant rushed the throbbing blood, 
Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, 
Left its domain as wan as clay. 



62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto n 

''Roderick, enough! enough!'* he cried, 

' *My daughter cannot be thy bride ; rm 

Not that the blush to wooer dear. 

Nor paleness that of maiden fear. 

It may not be, — forgive her. Chief, 

Nor hazard aught for our relief. 

Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er 73o 

Will level a rebellious spear. 

'T was I that taught his youthful hand 

To rein a steed and wield a brand ; 

I see him yet, the princely boy! 

Not Ellen more my pride and joy ; 7^5 

I love him still, despite my wrongs 

By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. 

0, seek the grace you well may find, 

Without a cause to mine combined!" 

XXXIII 

Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode; 740 

The waving of his tartans broad, 

And darkened brow, where wounded pride 

With ire and disappointment vied, 

Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light. 

Like the ill Demon of the night, 743 

Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway 

Upon the nighted pilgrim's way: 

But, unrequited Love ! thy dart 

Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, 

And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, 750 

At length the hand of Douglas wrung, 

While eyes that mocked at tears before 

With bitter drops were running o'er. 



CANTO 11 THE ISLAND 63 

The death-pangs of long-cherished hope 
Scarce in that ample breast had scope, 753 

But, struggling with his spirit proud, 
Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, 
While every sob — so mute were all- 
Was heard distinctly through the hall. 
The son's despair, the mother's look, 76o 

111 might the gentle Ellen brook; 
She rose, and to her side there came, 
To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. 

XXXIV 

Then Roderick from the Douglas broke — 

As flashes flame through sable smoke, 765 

Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, 

To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, 

So the deep anguish of despair 

Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. 

With stalwart grasp his hand he laid 770 

On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: 

''Back, beardless boy!" he sternly said, 

''Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught 

The lesson I so lately taught? 

This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, 775 

Thank thou for punishment delayed." 

Eager as greyhound on his game. 

Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. 

"Perish my name, if aught afford 

Its Chieftain safety save his sword !" 78o 

Thus as they strove their desperate hand 

Griped to the dagger or the brand, 

And death had been — but Douglas rose, 



64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

And thrust between the struggling foes 

His giant strength : — "Chieftains, forego! rgs 

I hold the first who strikes my foe. — 

Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! 

What! is the Douglas fallen so far, 

His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil 

Of such dishonorable broil?" 790 

Sullen and slowly they unclasp, 

As struck with shame, their desperate grasp, 

And each upon his rival glared. 

With foot advanced and blade half bared. 

XXXV 

Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, 795 

Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung. 

And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, 

As faltered through terrific dream. 

Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword. 

And veiled his wrath in scornful word : soo 

''Rest safe till morning; pity 't were 

Such cheek should feel the midnight air! 

Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, 

Roderick will keep the lake and fell. 

Nor lackey with his freeborn clan 805 

The pageant pomp of earthly man. 

More would he of Clan-Alpine know, 

Thou canst our strength and passes show. — ■ 

Malise, what ho!" — his henchman came: 

"Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme. " gio 

Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold * 

"Fear nothing for thy favorite hold ; 

The spot an angel deigned to grace 



CANTO II THE ISLAND 65 

Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. 

Thy churlish courtesy for those sis 

Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 

As safe to me the mountain way 

At midnight as in blaze of day, 

Though with his boldest at his back 

Even Roderick Dhu beset the track. — ■ 820 

Brave Douglas, — lovely Ellen, — nay, 

Naught here of parting will I say. 

Earth does not hold a lonesome glen 

So secret but we meet again. ^ — 

Chieftain! we too shall find an hour," — 

He said, and left the sylvan bower. 



825 



XXXVI 
Old Allan followed to the strand — 
Such was the Douglas's command — - 
And anxious told, how, on the morn. 
The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, 8.30 

The Fiery Cross should circle o'er 
Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor. 
Much were the peril to the Graeme 
From those who to the signal came ; 
Far up the lake 't were safest land, 8.35 

Himself would row him to the strand. 
He gave his counsel to the wind. 
While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind. 
Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, 
His ample plaid in tightened fold, 84o 

And stripped his limbs to such array 
As best might suit the watery way, — 



66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 

XXXVII 

Then spoke abrupt: ''Farewell to thee, 

Pattern of old fidelity!'^ 

The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed, — 845 

"Oh, could I point a place of rest! 

My sovereign holds in ward my land. 

My uncle leads my vassal band ; 

To tame his foes, his friends to aid. 

Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 85o 

Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme 

Who loves the chieftain of his name, 

Not long shall honored Douglas dwell 

Like hunted stag in mountain cell; 

Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare, — gss 

I may not give the rest to air! 

Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught. 

Not the poor service of a boat. 

To waft me to yon mountain-side. '* 

Then plunged he in the flashing tide. seo 

Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, 

And stoutly steered him from the shore; 

And Allan strained his anxious eye. 

Far mid the lake his form to spy. 

Darkening across each puny wave, ses 

To which the moon her silver gave. 

Fast as the cormorant could skim 

The swimmer plied each active limb; 

Then landing in the moonlight dell. 

Loud shouted of his weal to tell. 87o 

The Minstrel heard the far halloo, 

And joyful from the shore withdrew. 



CANTO THIRD 

THE GATHERING 

Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, 
Who danced our infancy upon their knee, 

And told our marvelling boyhood legends store 
Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, 
How are they blotted from the things that be ! 5 

How few, all weak and withered of their force, 
Wait on the verge of dark eternity, 

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse. 

To sweep them from our sight! Time rolls his 
ceaseless course. 

Yet live there still who can remember well, 10 

How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, 
Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell. 

And solitary heath, the signal knew ; 

And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 
What time the warning note was keenly wound, 15 

What time aloft their kindred banner flew. 
While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering 

sound. 
And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, 
round. 

H 

The Summer dawn's reflected hue 

To purple changed Lock Katrine blue ; 20 



25 



68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

Mildly and soft the western breeze 

Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, 

And the pleased lake, like maiden eoy. 

Trembled but dimpled not for joy : 

The mountain-shadows on her breast 

Were neither broken nor at rest ; 

In bright uncertainty they lie, 

Like future joys to Fancy's eye. 

The water-lily to the light 

Her chalice reared of silver bright ; 30 

The doe awoke, and to the lawn. 

Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; 

The gray mist left the mountain-side, 

The torrent showed its glistening pride ; 

Invisible in flecked sky 35 

The lark sent down her revelry ; 

The blackbird and the speckled thrush 

Good -morrow gave from brake and brush ; 

In answer cooed the cushat dove 

Her notes of peace and rest and love. 40 

III 
No thought of peace, no thought of rest 
Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. 
With sheathed broadsword in his hand. 
Abrupt he paced the islet strand, 
And eyed the rising sun, and laid 45 

His hand on his impatient blade. 
Beneath a rock, his vassals' care 
Was prompt the ritual to prepare, 
With deep and deathful meaning fraught; 
For such Antiquity had taught so 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 69 

Was preface meet, ere yet abroad 

The Cross of Fire should take its road. 

The shrinking band stood oft aghast 

At the impatient glance he cast ; — 

Such glance the mountain eagle threw, 55 

As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, 

She spread her dark sails on the wind, 

And, high in middle heaven reclined, 

With her broad shadow on the lake, 

Silenced the warblers of the brake. go 

IV 

A heap of withered boughs was piled, 

Of juniper and rowan wild. 

Mingled with shivers from the oak, 

Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. 

Brian the Hermit by it stood, as 

Barefooted, in his frock and hood. 

His grizzled beard and matted hair 

Obscured a visage of despair ; 

His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, 

The scars of frantic penance bore. 70 

That monk, of savage form and face. 

The impending danger of his race 

Had drawn from deepest solitude, « 

Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. 

Not his the mien of Christian priest, 75 

But Druid's, from the grave released. 

Whose hardened heart and eye might brook 

On human sacrifice to look ; 

And much, 't was said, of heathen lore 

Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. ,sa 



70 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

The hallowed creed gave only worse 

And deadlier emphasis of curse. 

No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer, 

His cave the pilgrim shunned with care; 

The eager huntsman knew his bound, 85 

And in mid chase called off his hound ; 

Or if, in lonely glen or strath, 

The desert-dweller met his path. 

He prayed, and signed the cross between. 

While terror took devotion's mien. 90 

V 

Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. 
His mother watched a midnight fold. 
Built deep within a dreary glen. 
Where scattered lay the bones of men 
In some forgotten battle slain, 95 

And bleached by drifting wind and rain. 
It might have tamed a warrior's heart 
To view such mockery of his art! 
The knot-grass fettered there the hand 
Which once could burst an iron band ; 100 

Beneath the broad and ample bone, 
That bucklered heart to fear unknown, 
* A feeble and a timorous guest, 
The fieldfare framed her lowly nest; 
There the slow blindworm left his slime 105 
On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; 
And there, too, lay the leader's skull. 
Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, 
For heath-bell with her purple bloom 
Supplied the bonnet and the plume. no 



CANTO III 



THE GATHERING 71 



All night, in this sad glen, the maid 

Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade: 

She said no shepherd sought her side, 

No hunter's hand her snood untied, 

Yet ne'er again to braid her hair iis 

The virgin snood did Alice wear ; 

Gone was her maiden glee and sport, 

Her maiden girdle all too short. 

Nor sought she, from that fatal night. 

Or holy church or blessed rite, 120 

But locked her secret in her breast. 

And died in travail, unconfessed. 

VI 

Alone, among his young compeers, 

Was Brian from his infant years ; 

A moody and heart-broken boy, 125 

Estranged from sympathy and joy, 

Bearing each taunt which careless tongue 

On his mysterious lineage flung. 

Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale, 

To wood and stream his hap to wail, 130 

Till, frantic, he as truth received 

What of his birth the crowd believed, 

And sought, in mist and meteor *fire, 

To meet and know his Phantom Sire ! 

In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, 135 

The cloister oped her pitying gate ; 

In vain the learning of the age 

Unclasped the sable-lettered page ; 

Even in its treasures he could find 

Food for the fever of his mind. i4o 



72 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO III 

Eager he read whatever tells 

Of magic, cabala, and spells, 

And every dark pursuit allied 

To curious and presumptuous pride ; 

Till with fired brain and nerves overstrung, 145 

And heart with mystic horrors wrung, 

Desperate he sought Benharrow's den. 

And hid him from the haunts of men. 

VII 

The desert gave him visions wild 

Such as might suit the specter's child. 150 

Where with black cliffs the torrents toil. 

He watched the wheeling eddies boil. 

Till from their foam his dazzled eyes 

Beheld the River Demon rise : 

The mountain mist took form and limb 155 

Of noontide hag or goblin grim ; 

The midnight wind came wild and dread, 

Swelled with the voices of the dead ; 

Far on the future battle-heath 

His eyes beheld the ranks of death : leo 

Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, 

Shaped forth a disembodied world. 

One lingering sympathy of mind 

Still bound him to the mortal kind; 

The only parent he could claim les 

Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. 

Late had he heard, in prophet's dream. 

The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream ; 

Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast 

Of charging steeds, careering fast no 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 73 

Along Benharrow's shingly side, 

Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride ; 

The thunderbolt had split the pine, — 

All augured ill to Alpine's line. 

He girt his loins, and came to show 175 

The signals of impending woe, 

And now stood prompt to bless or ban, 

As bade the Chieftain of his clan. 

VIII 

'T was all prepared ; — and from the rock 

A goat, the patriarch of the flock, iso 

Before the kindling pile was laid, 

And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. 

Patient the sickening victim eyed 

The life-blood ebb in crimson tide 

Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, 135 

Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 

The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, 

A slender crosslet framed with care, 

A cubit's length in measure due ; 

The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, 190 

Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave 

Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, 

And, answering Lomond's breezes deep. 

Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. 

The Cross thus formed he held on high. 195 

With wasted hand and haggard eye. 

And strange and mingled feelings woke, 

While his anathema he SDoke: — 



74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

IX 

* *Woe to the clansman who shall view 

This symbol of sepulchral yew, 200 

Forgetful that its branches grew 

Where weep the heavens their holiest dew 

On Alpine's dwelling low! 
Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, 
He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, 20s 

But, from his sires and kindred thrust. 
Each clansman's execration just 

Shall doom him wrath and woe. " 
He paused ; — the word the vassals took. 
With forward step and fiery look, 210 

On high their naked brands they shook. 
Their clattering targets wildly strook ; 

And first in murmur low, 
Then, like the billow in his course. 
That far to seaward finds his source, 215 

And flings to shore his mustered force. 
Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, 

''Woe to the traitor, woe!" 
Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew. 
The joyous wolf from covert drew, 220 

The exulting eagle screamed afar, — 
They knew the voice of Alpine's war. 

X 

The shout was hushed on lake and fell. 
The Monk resumed his muttered spell : 
Dismal and low its accents came, 225 

The while he scathed the Cross with flame ; 
And the few words that reached the air. 



CANTO III 



THE GATHERING 75 



Although the holiest name was there, 

Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 

But when he shook above the crowd 230 

Its kindled points, he spoke aloud : — 

''Woe to the wretch who fails to rear 

At this dread sign the ready spear ! 

For, as the flames this symbol sear. 

His home, the refuge of his fear, 235 

A kindred fate shall know ; 
Far o'er its roof the volumed flame 
Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, 
While maids and matrons on his name 
Shall call down wretchedness and shame, 240 

And infamy and woe, " 
Then rose the cry of females, shrill 
As goshawk's whistle on the hill, 
Denouncing misery and ill. 
Mingled with childhood's babbling trill 245 

Of curses stammered slow ; 
Answering with imprecation dread, 

' 'Sunk be his home in embers red ! 

And cursed be the meanest shed 

That e'er shall hide the houseless head 250 

We doom to want and woe!" 

A sharp and shrieking echo gave, 

Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave ! 

And the gray pass where birches wave 

On Beala-nam-bo. 255 

XI 
Then deeper paused the priest anew, 
And hard his laboring breath he drew, 



76 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

While, with set teeth and clenched hand, 

And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, 

He meditated curse more dread, 260 

And deadlier, on the clansman's head 

Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, 

The signal saw and disobeyed. 

The crosslet's points of sparkling wood 

He quenched among the bubbling blood, ges 

And, as again the sign he reared. 

Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard : 

''When flits this Cross from man to man, 

Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan. 

Burst be the ear that fails to heed ! 270 

Palsied the foot that shuns to speed ! 

May ravens tear the careless eyes. 

Wolves make the coward heart their prize ! 

As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, 

So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth ! 275 

As dies in hissing gore the spark, 

Quench thou his light, Destruction dark ! 

And be the grace to him denied. 

Bought by this sign to all beside!" 

He ceased ; no echo gave again 280 

The murmur of the deep Amen. 

xn 

Then Roderick with impatient look 
From Brian's hand the symbol took : 
* 'Speed, Malise, speed!" he said, and gave 
The crosslet to his henchman brave. 235 

*'The muster-place be Lanrick mead- 
Instant the time — sjpeed, Malise, speed!" 



30O 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 77 

Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, 

A barge across Loch Katrine flew : 

High stood the henchman on the prow ; 290 

So rapidly the barge-men row, 

The bubbles, where they launched the boat, 

Were all unbroken and afloat, 

Dancing in foam and ripple still. 

When it had neared the mainland hill; 395 

And from the silver beach's side 

Still was the prow three fathom wide, 

When lightly bounded to the land 

The messenger of blood and brand. 

XIII 
Speed, Malise, speed ! the dun deer's hide 
On fleeter foot was never tied. 
Speed, Malise, speed ! such cause of haste 
Thine active sinews never braced. 
Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, 
Burst down like torrent from its crest ; 
With short and springing footstep pass 
The trembling bog and false morass ; 
Across the brook like roebuck bound, 
And thread the brake like questing hound ; 
The crag is high, the scaur is deep, 310 

Yet shrink not from the desperate leap : 
Parched are thy burning lips and brow. 
Yet by the fountain pause not now ; 
Herald of battle, fate, and fear, 
Stretch onward in thy fleet career ! 315 

The wounded hind thou track 'st not now, 
Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, 



305 



78 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iii 

Nor pliest thou now thy flying pace 

With rivals in the mountain race ; 

But danger, death, and warrior deed a^ j 

Are in thy course — speed, Malise, speed ! 

XIV 
Fast as the fatal symbol flies. 
In arms the huts and hamlets rise ; 
From winding glen, from upland brown, 
They poured each hardy tenant down. 325 

Nor slacked the messenger his pace ; 
He showed the sign, he named the place. 
And, pressing forward like the wind. 
Left clamor and surprise behind. 
The fisherman forsook the strand, 330 

The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; 
With changed cheer, the mower blithe 
Left in the half-cut swath his scythe ; 
The herds without a keeper strayed, 
The plough was in mid-furrow stayed, 335 

The falconer tossed his hawk away. 
The hunter left the stag at bay ; 
Prompt at the signal of alarms. 
Each son of Alpine rushed to arms ; 
So swept the tumult and afi'ray 340 

Along the margin of Achray. 
Alas, thou lovely lake ! that e'er 
Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! 
The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 
So stilly on thy bosom deep, ^ 

The lark's blithe carol from the cloud 
Seems for the scene too gaJly loud. 



355 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 79 

XV 

Speed, Malise, speed ! The lake is past, 

Duncraggan's huts appear at last. 

And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, 350 

Half hidden in the copse so green ; 

There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, 

Their lord shall speed the signal on. — 

As stoops the hawk upon his prey, 

The henchman shot him down the way. 

What woeful accents load the gale ? 

The funeral yell, the female wail ! 

A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, 

A valiant warrior fights no more. 

Who, in the battle or the chase, 

At Roderick's side shall fill his place! — 

Within the hall, where torch's ray 

Supplies the excluded beams of day. 

Lies Duncan on his lonely bier. 

And o'er him streams his widow's tear. 

His stripling son stands mournful by. 

His youngest weeps, but knows not why ; 

The village maids and matrons round 

The dismal coronach resound. 

XVI 
CORONACH 
He is gone on the mountain, 37a 

He is lost to the forest, 
Like a summer-dried fountain. 

When our need was the sorest. 
The font, reappearing. 

From the rain -drops shall borrow, 375 



365 



80 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

But to US comes no cheering, 
To Duncan no morrow ! 

The hand of the reaper 

Takes the ears that are hoary. 
But the voice of the weeper sso 

Wails manhood in glory. 
The autumn winds rushing 

Waft the leaves that are searest, 
But our flower was in flushing, 

When blighting was nearest. sss 

Fleet foot on the correi, 

Sage counsel in cumber, 
Red hand in the foray, 

How sound is thy slumber ! 
Like the dew on the mountain, 390 

Like the foam on the river, 
Like the bubble on the fountain, 

Thou art gone, and forever ! 

XVII 
See Stumah, who, the bier beside, 
His master's corpse with wonder eyed, 395 

Poor Stumah ! whom his least halloo 
Could send like lightning o'er the dew. 
Bristles his crest, and points his ears. 
As if some stranger step he hears. 
'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, 400 

Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, 
But headlong haste or deadly fear 
Urge the precipitate career. 
All stand aghast: — unheeding all, 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 81 

The henchman bursts into the hall ; 405 

Before the dead man's bier he stood, 

Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood ; 

* 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 

Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!'' 

XVIII 

Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, 410 

Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. 

In haste the stripling to his side 

His father's dirk and broadsword tied; 

But when he saw his mother's eye 

Watch him in speechless agony, 415 

Back to her opened arms he flew, 

Pressed on her lips a fond adieu, — 

**Alas!" she sobbed, — ''and yet be gone, 

And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!" 

One look he cast upon the bier, 420 

Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, 

Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast. 

And tossed aloft his bonnet crest. 

Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed. 

First he essays his fire and speed, 425 

He vanished, and o'er moor and moss 

Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. 

Suspended was the widow's tear 

While yet his footsteps she could hear; 

And when she marked the henchman's eye 430 

Wet with unwonted sympathy, 

"Kinsman, " she said, "his race is run 

That should have sped thine errand on ; 

The oak has fallen, — the sapling bough 



82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

Is all Duncraggan's shelter now. 435 

Yet trust I well, his duty done, 

The orphan's God will guard my son. — 

And you, in many a danger true. 

At Duncan's hest your blades that drew. 

To arms, and guard that orphan's head ! 440 

Let babes and women wail the dead.'' 

Then weapon-clang and martial call 

Resounded through the funeral hall. 

While from the walls the attendant band 

Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand , 445 

And short and flitting energy 

Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, 

As if the sounds to warrior dear 

Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. 

But faded soon that borrowed force ; 450 

Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. 

XIX 

Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, 

It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. 

O'er dale and hill the summons flew. 

Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew ; 455 

The tear that gathered in his eye 

He left the mountain-breeze to dry ; 

Until, where Teith's young waters roll 

Betwixt him and a wooded knoll 

That graced the sable strath with green, 460 

The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. 

Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, 

But Angus paused not on the edge ; 

Though the dark waves danced dizzily, 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 83 

Though reeled his sympathetic eye, 465 

He dashed amid the torrent's roar: 

His right hand high the crosslet bore, 

His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide 

And stay his footing in the tide. 

He stumbled twice, ^ — ^the foam splashed high, 470 

With hoarser swell the stream raced by ; 

And had he fallen, — forever there. 

Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! 

But still, as if in parting life. 

Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, 475 

Until the opposing bank he gained. 

And up the chapel pathway strained. 

XX 

A blithesome rout that morning-tide 

Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. 

Her troth Tombea's Mary gave 48o 

To Norman, heir of Armandave, 

And, issuing from the Gothic arch. 

The bridal now resumed their march. 

In rude but glad procession came 

Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame: 485 

And plaided youth, with jest and jeer. 

Which snooded maiden would not hear ; 

And children, that, unwitting why, 

Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry ; 

And minstrels, that in measures vied 490 

Before the young and bonny bride, 

Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose 

The tear and blush of morning rose. 

With virgin step and bashful hand 



84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO iii 



495 



She held the kerchief's snowy band. 
The gallant bridegroom by her side 
Beheld his prize with victor's pride, 
And the glad mother in her ear 
Was closely whispering word of cheer. 

XXI 

Who meets them at the churchyard gate ? 500 

The messenger of fear and fate ! 

Haste in his hurried accent lies, 

And grief is swimming in his eyes. 

All dripping from the recent flood, 

Panting and travel-soiled he stood, 505 

The fatal sign of fire and sword 

Held forth, and spoke the appointed word : 

' The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 

Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!" 

And must he change so soon the hand, 510 

Just linked to his by holy band. 

For the fell Cross of blood and brand? 

And must the day so blithe that rose. 

And promised rapture in the close. 

Before its setting hour, divide 515 

The bridegroom from the plighted bride ? 

O fatal doom ! — it must ! it must ! 

Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust. 

Her summons dread, brook no delay ; 

Stretch to the race, — away ! away ! 520 

XXH 

Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, 
And lingering eyed his lovely bride, 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 85 

Until he saw the starting tear 

Speak woe he might not stop to cheer; 

Then, trusting not a second look, 525 

In haste he sped him up the brook. 

Nor backward glanced till on the heath 

Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. — 

What in the racer's bosom stirred ? 

The sickening pang of hope deferred, 530 

And memory with a torturing train 

Of all his morning visions vain. 

Mingled with love's impatience, came 

The manly thirst for martial fame ; 

The stormy joy of mountaineers 535 

Ere yet they rushed upon the spears ; 

And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, 

And hope, from well-fought field returning, 

With war's red honors on his crest. 

To clasp his Mary to his breast. 540 

Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, 

Like fire from flint he glanced away. 

While high resolve and feeling strong 

Burst into voluntary song. 

XXIII 

SONG 

The heath this night must be my bed, 545 

The bracken curtain for my head, 
My lullaby the warder's tread. 

Far, far, from love and thee, Mary ; 
Tomorrow eve, more stilly laid. 
My couch may be my bloody plaid, 56o 

My vesper song thy wail, sweet maidi 

It will not waken me, Mary! 



86 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

I may not, dare not, fancy now 

The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 

I dare not think upon thy vow, 555 

And all it promised me, Mary. 
No fond regret must Norman know ; 
When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe. 
His heart must be like bended bow. 

His foot like arrow free, Mary. 56o 

A time will come with feeling fraught. 
For, if I fall in battle fought. 
Thy hapless lover's dying thought 

Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. 
And if returned from conquered foes, 555 

How blithely will the evening close, 
How sweet the linnet sing repose. 

To my young bride and me, Mary ! 

XXIV 

Not faster o'er thy heathery braes, 

Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, 570 

Rushing in conflagration strong 

Thy deep ravines and dells along, 

Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow. 

And reddening the dark lakes below ; 

Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, 575 

As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. 

The signal roused to martial coil 

The sullen margin of Loch Voil, 

Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source 

Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course ; 5^0 

Thence southward turned its rapid road 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 87 

Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad, 

Till rose in arms each man might claim 

A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, 

From the gray sire, whose trembling hand 535 

Could hardly buckle on his brand, 

To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow 

Were yet scarce terror to the crow. 

Each valley, each sequestered glen, 

Mustered its little horde of men, 590 

That met as torrents from the height 

In Highland dales their streams unite, 

Still gathering, as they pour along, 

A voice more loud, a tide more strong. 

Till at the rendezvous they stood 595 

By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, 

Each trained to arms since life began. 

Owning no tie but to his clan, 

No oath but by his chieftain's hand, 

No law but Roderick Dhu's command. eoo 

XXV 

That summer morn had Roderick Dhu 

Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, 

And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, 

To view the frontiers of Menteith. 

All backward came with news of truce ; 605 

Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, 

In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, 

No banner waved at Cardross gate. 

On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, 

Nor scared the herons from Loch Con ; eio 

All seemed at peace. — ^Now wot ye why 



88 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 

The Chieftain with such anxious eye, 

Ere to the muster he repair, 

This western frontier scanned with care ? — 

In Benvenues most darksome cleft, 615 

A fair though cruel pledge was left ; 

For Douglas, to his promise true, 

That morning from the isle withdrew. 

And in a deep sequestered dell 

Had sought a low and lonely cell. 620 

By many a bard in Celtic tongue 

Has Coir-nan- Uriskin been sung; 

A softer name the Saxons gave, 

And called the grot the Goblin Cave. 

XXVI 

It was a wild and strange retreat, 625 

As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. 

The dell, upon the mountain's crest, 

Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; 

Its trench had stayed full many a rock, 

Hurled by primeval earthquake shock 63o 

From Benvenue's gray summit wild, 

And here, in random ruin piled, 

They frowned incumbent o'er the spot, 

And formed the rugged sylvan grot. 

The oak and birch with mingled shade 535 

At noontide there a twilight made, 

Unless when short and sudden shone 

Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, 

With such a glimpse as prophet's eye 

Gains on thy depth. Futurity. 64o 

No murmur waked the solemn still, 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 89 

Save tinkling of a fountain rill ; 

But when the wind chafed with the lake, 

A sullen sound would upward break, 

With dashing hollow voice, that spoke 645 

The incessant war of wave and rock. 

Suspended cliffs with hideous sway 

Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. 

From such a den the wolf had sprung, 

In such the wild-cat leaves her young; es* 

Yet Douglas and his daughter fair 

Sought for a space their safety there. 

Gray Superstition's whisper dread 

Debarred the spot to vulgar tread ; 

For there, she said, did fays resort, ess 

And satyrs hold their sylvan court, 

By moonlight tread their mystic maze. 

And blast the rash beholder's gaze. 

XXVII 
Now eve, with western shadows long. 
Floated on Katrine bright and strong, qqq 

When Roderick with a chosen few 
Repassed the heights of Benvenue. 
Above the Goblin Cave they go. 
Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; 
The prompt retainers speed before, ess 

To launch the shallop from the shore. 
For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way 
To view the passes of Achray, 
And place his clansmen in array. 
Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, 67o 

Unwonted sight, his men behind. 



90 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO iii 

A single page, to bear his sword, 

Alone attended on his lord ; 

The rest their way through thickets break, 

And soon await him by the lake. 675 

It was a fair and gallant sight, 

To view them from the neighboring height, 

By the low-levelled sunbeam's light! 

For strength and stature, from the clan 

Each warrior was a chosen man, eso 

As even afar might well be seen. 

By their proud step and martial mien. 

Their feathers dance, their tartans float. 

Their targets gleam, as by the boat 

A wild and warlike group they stand, 685 

That well became such mountain-strand. 

XXVIII 
Their Chief with step reluctant still 
Was lingering on the craggy hill, 
Hard by where turned apart the road 
To Douglas's obscure abode. 69o 

It was but with that dawning morn 
That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn 
To drown his love in war's wild roar, 
Nor think of Ellen Douglas more ; 
But he who stems a stream with sand, 695 

And fetters fame with flaxen band, 
Has yet a harder task to prove, — 
By firm resolve to conquer love ! 
Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost. 
Still hovering near his treasure lost; 7©o 

For though his haughty heart deny 



;anto III 



THE GATHERING 91 



A parting meeting to his eye, 

Still fondly strains his anxious ear 

The accents of her voice to hear, 

And inly did he curse the breeze m 

That waked to sound the rustling trees. 

But hark ! what mingles in the strain ? 

It is the harp of Allan-bane, 

That wakes its measure slow and high, 

Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. 710 

What melting voice attends the strings? 

T is Ellen, or an angel, sings. 

XXIX 

HYMN TO THE VIRGIN 

Ave Maria I maiden mild ! 

Listen to a maiden's prayer! 
Thou canst hear though from the wild, 715 

Thou canst save amidst despair. 
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, 

Though banished, outcast, and reviled — 
Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; 

Mother, hear a suppliant child! 720 

Ave Maria ! 

Ave Maria ! undefiled ! 

The flinty couch we now must share 
Shall seem with down of eider piled, 

If thy protection hover there. 
The miirky cavern's heavy air 725 

Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled ; 
Then, Maiden I hear a maiden's prayer, 

Mother, list a suppliant child ! 

Ave Maria I 



92 THE LADY OF THE LAKE Cantc hi 

Ave Maria! stainless styled ! 

Foul demons of the earth and air, -sc 

From this their wonted haunt exiled, 

Shall flee before thy presence fair. 
We bow us to our lot of care. 

Beneath thy guidance reconciled : 
Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, 78^ 

And for a father hear a child ! 

Ave Maria! 

XXX 

Died on the harp the closing hymn, — 

Unmoved in attitude and limb, 

As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord 

Stood leaning on his heavy sword, Y4c 

Until the page with humble sign 

Twice pointed to the sun's decline. 

Then while his plaid he round him cast, 

*'It is the last time — 'tis the last, " 

He muttered thrice, — ''the last time e'er 745 

That angel-voice shall Roderick hear!" 

It was a goading thought, — his stride 

Hied hastier down the mountain-side; 

Sullen he flung him in the boat. 

And instant 'cross the lake it shot. 750 

They landed in that silvery bay, 

And eastward held their hasty way, 

Till, with the latest beams of light. 

The band arrived on Lanrick height. 

Where mustered in the vale below 755 

Clan- Alpine's men in martial show. 



CANTO III THE GATHERING 93 

XXXI 
A various scene the clansmen made : 
Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed ; 
But most, with mantles folded round, 
Were couched to rest upon the ground, -eo 

Scarce to be known by curious eye 
From the deep heather where they lie, 
So well was matched the tartan screen 
With heath-bell dark and brackens green ; 
Unless where, here and there, a blade -65 

Or lance's point a glimmer made. 
Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. 
But when, advancing through the gloom, 
They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume. 
Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, 770 
Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 
Thrice it arose, and lake and fell 
Three times returned the martial yell ; 
It died upon Bochastle's plain. 
And Silence claimed her evening reign. 77s 



a 



CANTO FOURTH 

THE PROPHECY 
I 

*The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, 

And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; 
The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew, 

And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. 

wilding rose whom fancy thus endears, 5 

I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave. 

Emblem of hope and love through future years !'' 
Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, 
What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. 

II 
Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, -c 

Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. 
All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, 
His axe and bow beside him lay. 
For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood 
• A wakeful sentinel he stood. 1.5 

Hark ! — on the rock a footstep rung. 
And instant to his arms he sprung. 
' 'Stand, or thou diest ! — What, Malise ? — soon 
Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. 
By thy keen step and glance I know, 20 

Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe. '' — ■ 
For while the Fiery Cross hied on, 
On distant scout had Malise gone. — 
' 'Where sleeps the Chief V" the henchman said. 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 95 

' 'Apart, in yonder misty glade ; as 

To his lone couch Pll be your guide/* — 

Then called a slumberer by his side, 

And stirred him with his slackened bow, — 

''Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! 

We seek the Chieftain ; on the track 

Keep eagle watch till I come back." 



30 



III 
Together up the pass they sped : 
' 'What of the f oeman ? ' ' Norman said. — 
' 'Varying reports from near and far ; • 
This certain, — that a band of war 35 

Has for two days been ready boune, 
At prompt command to march from Doune ; 
King James the while, with princely powers, 
Holds revelry in Stirling towers. 
Soon will this dark and gathering cloud 40 

Speak on our glens in thunder loud. 
Inured to bide such bitter bout. 
The warrior's plaid may bear it out; 
But, Norman, how wilt thou provide 
A shelter for thy bonny bride?" — ^^ 

"What! know ye not that Roderick's care 
To the lone isle hath caused repair 
Each maid and matron of the clan. 
And every child and aged man 
Unfit for arms ; and given his charge, go 

Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, 
Upon these lakes shall float at large. 
But all beside the islet moor, 
That such dear pledge may rest secure?" — ■ 



96 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto l^> 

IV 

•* *T is well advised, — the Chieftain's plan 55 
Bespeaks the father of his clan. 
But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu 
Apart from all his followers true?'* 
''It is because last evening-tide 
Brian an augury hath tried, -jo 

Of that dread kind which must not be 
Unless in dread extremity. 
The Taghairm called ; by which, afar, 
Or sires foresaw the events of war. 
Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew, '' — es 
MALISE 

' 'Ah ! well the gallant brute I knew ! 

The choicest of the prey we had 

When swept our merrymen Gallangad. 

His hide was snow, his horns were dark, 

His red eye glowed like fiery spark; 70 

So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet. 

Sore did he cumber our retreat, 

And kept our stoutest kerns in awe. 

Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. 

But steep and flinty was the road, ^5 

And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, 

And when we came to Dennan's Row 

A child might scathless stroke his brow.'' 

V 

NORMAN 

*That bull was slain ; his reeking hide, 

They stretched the cataract beside, ^ 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 97 

Whose waters their wild tumult toss 

Adown the black and craggy boss 

Of that huge cliff whose ample verge 

Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. 

Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, 85 

Close where the thundering torrents sink, 

Rocking beneath their headlong sway, 

And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, 

Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, 

The wizard waits prophetic dream. oo 

Nor distant rests the Chief ; — but hush ! 

See, gliding slow through mist and bush. 

The hermit gains yon rock, and stands 

To gaze upon our slumbering bands. 

Seems he not, Malise, like a ghost, 95 

That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? 

Or raven on the blasted oak, 

That, watching while the deer is broke. 

His morsel claims with sullen croak?" 

MALISE 
' Teace ! peace ! to other than to me loc 

Thy words were evil augury; 
But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade 
Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, 
Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, 
Yon fiend -begotten Monk can tell. 105 

The Chieftain joins him, see — and now 
Together they descend the brow. " 

VI 
And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord 
The Hermit Monk held solemn word : — 



9S THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 

* 'Roderick! it is a fearful strife, no 

For man endowed with mortal life, 

Whose shroud of sentient clay can still 

Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, 

Whose eye can stare in stony trance, 

Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, — us 

T is hard for such to view, unfurled, 

The curtain of the future world. 

Yet, witness every quaking limb, 

My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim. 

My soul with harrowing anguish torn, i^o 

This for my Chieftain have I borne !— 

The shapes that sought my fearful couch 

A human tongue may ne'er avouch; 

No mortal man — save he, who, bred 

Between the living and the dead, 105 

Is gifted beyond nature's law — 

Had e'er survived to say he saw. 

At length the fateful answer came 

In characters of living flame ! 

Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, 130 

But borne and branded on my soul : — • 

Which spills the foremost foeman's life, 

That party conquers in the strife." 

VII 

* 'Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care ! 

Good is thine augury, and fair. 135 

Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood 

But first our broadswords tasted blood. 

A surer victim still I know. 

Self -offered to the auspicious blow : 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 99 

A spy has sought my land this morn, — ■ uo 

No eve shall witness his return ! 

My followers guard each pass's mouth, 

To east, to westward, and to south ; 

Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide. 

Has charge to lead his steps aside, 145 

Till in deep path or dingle brown 

He light on those shall bring him down.- 

But see, who comes his news to show ! 

Malise! what tidings of the foe?'* 

vin 

**At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive 150 

Two Barons proud their banners wave. 

I saw the Moray's silver star, 

And marked the sable pale of Mar. ' ' 

''By Alpine's soul, high tidings those! 

I love to hear of worthy foes. 155 

When move they on ? " ' 'Tomorrow 's noon 

Will see them here for battle boune. " 

"Then shall it see a meeting stern ! 

But, for the place, — say, couldst thou learn 

Nought of the friendly clans of Earn ? leo 

Strengthened by them, we well might bide 

The battle on Benledi's side. 

Thou couldst not ? — well ! Clan-Alpine's men 

Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen ; 

Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, 165 

All in our maids' and matrons' sight, 

Each for his hearth and household fire, 

Father for child, and son for sire, 

Lover for maid beloved ! — But whv — 



100 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 

Is it the breeze affects mine eye ? no 

Or dost thou come, ill-omened tearl 

A messenger of doubt or fear ? 

No ! sooner may the Saxon lance 

Unfix Benledi from his stance, 

Than doubt or terror can pierce through 175 

The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu ! 

'T is stubborn as his trusty targe. 

Each to his post ! — all know their charge. ' * 

The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, 

The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, iso 

Obedient to the Chieftain's glance. — 

I turn me from the martial roar, 

And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. 

IX 
Where is the Douglas ? — he is gone ; 
And Ellen sits on the gray stone iso 

Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, 
While vainly Allan's words of cheer 
Are poured on her unheeding ear. 
''He will return — dear lady, trust! — 
With joy return ; — he will — he must. 190 

Well was it time to seek afar 
Some refuge from impending war. 
When e'en Clan- Alpine's rugged swarm 
Are cowed by the approaching storm. 
I saw their boats with many a light, 195 

Floating the livelong yesternight. 
Shifting like flashes darted forth 
By the red streamers of the north ; 
I marked at morn how close they ride, 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 101 

Thick moored by the lone islet's side, 200 

Like wild ducks couching in the fen 

When stoops the hawk upon the glen. 

Since this rude race dare not abide 

The peril on the mainland side, 

Shall not thy noble father's care 205 

Some safe retreat for thee prepare?" 

X 

ELLEN 

''No, Allan, no! Pretext so kind 

My wakeful terrors could not blind. 

When in such tender tone, yet grave, 

Douglas a parting blessing gave, 210 

The tear that glistened in his eye 

Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. 

My soul, though feminine and weak, 

Can image his; e'en as the lake, 

Itself disturbed by slightest stroke, 215 

Reflects the invulnerable rock. 

He hears report of battle rife. 

He deems himself the cause of strife. 

I saw him redden when the theme 

Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream 200 

Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, 

Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 

Think'st thou he trowed thine omen aught? 

Ono! 't was apprehensive thought 

For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 225 

Let me be just — that friend so true ; 

In danger both, and in our cause ! 

Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 



J02 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto IV 

Why else that solemn warning given, 

*If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' 230 

Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane. 

If eve return him not again, 

Am I to hie and make me known ? 

Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne. 

Buys his friends* safety with his own ; 035 

He goes to do — what I had done. 

Had Douglas' daughter been his son!" 

XI 

*'Nay, lovely Ellen! — dearest, nay! 

If aught should his return delay. 

He only named yon holy fane .240 

As fitting place to meet again. 

Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme, — 

Heaven's blessing on his gallant name! — 

My visioned sight may yet prove true. 

Nor bode of ill to him or you. 245 

When did my gifted dream beguile? 

Think of the stranger at the isle, 

And think upon the harpings slow 

That presaged this approaching woe! 

Sooth was my prophecy of fear ; 050 

Believe it when it augurs cheer. 

Would we had left this dismal spot! 

Ill luck still haunts a fairy grot. 

Of such wondrous tale I know — 

Dear lady, change that look of woe, 255 

My harp was wont thy grief to cheer. ' ' 

ELLEN 
*'Well, be it as thou wilt; I hear, 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 103 

But cannot stop the bursting tear. ' * 

The Minstrel tried his simple art, 

But distant far was Ellen's heart. 260 

XII 

BALLAD 
ALICE BRAND 

Merry it is in the good greenwood, 

When the mavis and merle are singing, 

When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry. 
And the hunter's horn is ringing. 

'*0 Alice Brand, my native land 265 

Is lost for love of you ; 
And we must hold by wood and wold, 

As outlaws wont to do. 

*'0 Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, 
And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, 270 

That on the night of our luckless flight 
Thy brother bold I slew. 

*'Now must I teach to hew the beech 

The hand that held the glaive, 
For leaves to spread our lowly bed, 2:5 

And stakes to fence our cave. 

''And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, 

That wont on harp to stray, 
A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer. 

To keep the cold away. ' ' 280 

*'0 Richard! if my brother died, 

T was but a fatal chance ; 
For darkling was the battle tried. 

And fortune sped the lance. 



704 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO l\ 

"If pall and vair no more I wear, 255 

Nor thou the crimson sheen, 
As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray, 

As gay the forest-green. 

''And, Richard, if our lot be hard. 

And lost thy native land, 290 

Still Alice has her own Richard, 

And he his Alice Brand. " 

XIII 
BALLAD CONTINUED 
'T is merry, 't is merry, fn good greenwood ; 

So blithe Lady Alice is singing ; 
On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, 295 

Lord Richard's axe is ringing. 

Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 

Who woned within the hill, — 
Like wind in the porch of a ruined church 

His voice was ghostly shrill. 300 

"Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, 

Our moonlight circle's screen? 
Or who comes here to chase the deer, 

Beloved of our Elfin Queen ? 
Or who may dare on wold to wear ' 305 

The fairies' fatal green? 

' 'Up, Urgan, up ! to yon mortal hie, 

For thou wert christened man ; 
For cross or sign thou wilt not fly. 

For muttered word or ban. 310 

"Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, 
The curse of the sleepless eye ; 



CAXTo IV THE PROPHECY 105 

Till he wish and pray that his life would part, 
Nor yet find leave to die. '' 

XIV 

BALLAD CONTINUED 

'T IS merry, 't is merry, in good greenwood, 315 

Though the birds have stilled their singing ; 

The evening blaze doth Alice raise. 
And Richard is fagots bringing. 

Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf 

Before Lord Richard stands, 320 

And, as he crossed and blessed himself, 
"I fear not sign, '* quoth the grisly elf, 

''That is made with bloody hands/* 

But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, 

That woman void of fear, — • 325 

''And if there's blood upon his hand, 

'T is but the blood of deer. " 

' 'Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood ! 

It cleaves unto his hand, 
The stain of thine own kindly blood, 330 

The blood of Ethert Brand. ' ' 

Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, 

And made the holy sign, — 
*'And if there's blood on Richard's hand, 

A spotless hand is mine. 335 

"And I conjure thee, demon elf, 

By Him whom demons fear, 
To show us whence thou art thyself. 

And what thine errand here?" 



106 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO tv 

XV 

BALLAD CONTINUED 

'' 'T is merry, 't is merry, in Fairy-land, 340 

When fairy birds are singing. 
When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 

With bit and bridle ringing : 

''And gayly shines the Fairy-land — 

But all is glistening show, 345 

Like the idle gleam that December's beam 

Can dart on ice and snow. 

*'And fading, like that varied gleam. 

Is our inconstant shape, 
Who now like knight and lady seem, 350 

And now like dwarf and ape. 

' 'It was between the night and day. 

When the Fairy King has power. 
That I sunk down in a sinful fray, 
And 'twixt life and death was snatched away 355 

To the joyless Elfin bower. 

"But wist I of a woman bold, 

Who thrice my brow durst sign, 
I might regain my mortal mould, 

As fair a form as thine. '' 36o 

She crossed him once — she crossed him twice — 

That lady was so brave ; 
The fouler grew his goblin hue, 

The darker grew the cave. 

She crossed him thrice, that lady bold ; 305 

He rose beneath her hand 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 107 

The fairest knight on Scottish mould, 
Her brother, Ethert Brand ! 

Merry it is in good greenwood, 

When the mavis and merle are singing, 370 

But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray. 

When all the bells were ringing. 

XVI 

Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, 
A stranger climbed the steepy glade ; 
His martial step, his stately mien, 375 

His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, 
His eagle glance, remembrance claims — 
'T is Snowdoun's Knight, 't is James Fitz- James. 
Ellen beheld as in a dream. 
Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream : ggg 
' *0 stranger ! in such hour of fear 
What evil hap has brought thee here?'' 
''An evil hap how can it be 
That bids me look again on thee ? 
By promise bound, my former guide 385 

Met me betimes this morning-tide, 
And marshalled over bank and bourne 
The happy path of my return. ' ' 
' 'The happy path ! — what ! said he naught 
Of war, of battle to be fought, 390 

Of guarded pass?" "No, by my faith! 
Nor saw I aught could augur scathe/' 
"0 haste thee, Allan, to the kern: 
* Yonder his tartans I discern ; 

Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 395 



108 THE LADY OF THE LAKE cant) iv 

That he will guide the stranger sure!— 
What prompted thee, unhappy man ? 
The meanest serf in Roderick's clan 
Had not been bribed, by love or fear. 
Unknown to him to guide thee here." 400 

XVII 

"Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be. 

Since it is worthy care from thee ; 

Yet life I hold but idle breath 

When love or honor 's weighed with death. 

Then let me profit by my chance, 405 

And speak my purpose bold at once. 

I come to bear thee from a wild 

Where ne'er before such blossom smiled. 

By this soft hand to lead thee far 

From frantic scenes of feud and war. 410 

Near Bochastle my horses wait ; 

They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 

I'll place thee in a lovely bower, 

I'll guard thee like a tender flower — " 

* '0 hush. Sir Knight ! 't were female art, 415 

To say I do not read thy heart ; 

Too much, before, my selfish ear 

Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 

That fatal bait hath lured thee back. 

In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track ; 420 

And how, how, can I atone 

The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 

One way remains — I'll tell him all — ■ 

Yes ! struggling bosom, forth it shall ! 

Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 425 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 109 

Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! 

But first — my father is a man 

Outlawed and exiled, under ban ; 

The price of blood is on his head, 

With me 't were infamy to wed. 

Still wouldst thou speak ? — then hear the truth ! 

Fitz-James, there is a noble youth — 

If yet he is ! — exposed for me 

And mine to dread extremity — 

Thou hast the secret of my heart ; 435 

Forgive, be generous, and depart ! ' ' 

XVIII 
Fitz-James knew every wily train 
A lady's fickle heart to gain, 
But here he knew and felt them vain. 
There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, 440 

To give her steadfast speech the lie ; 
In maiden confidence she stood, 
Though mantled in her cheek the blood. 
And told her love with such a sigh 
Of deep and hopeless agony, 445 

As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom 
And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 
Hope vanished from Fitz-James 's eye. 
But not with hope fled sympathy. 
He proffered to attend her side, 450 

As brother would a sister guide. 
*'0 little know'st thou Roderick's heart! 
Safer for both we go apart. 
haste thee, and from Allan learn 
If thou mayst trust yon wily kern. " 45E 



no THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 

With hand upon his forehead laid, 

The conflict of his mind to shade, 

A parting step or two he made ; 

Then, as some thought had crossed his brain, 

He paused, and turned, and came again. 400 

XIX 

''Hear, lady, yet a parting word I — 

It chanced in fight that my poor sword 

Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. 

This ring the grateful Monarch gave, 

And bade, when I had boon to crave, 465 

To bring it back, and boldly claim 

The recompense that I would name. 

Ellen, I am no courtly lord. 

But one who lives by lance and sword. 

Whose castle is his helm and shield, 470 

His lordship the embattled field. 

What from a prince can I demand, 

Who neither reck of state nor land ? 

Ellen, thy hand — the ring is thine; 

Each guard and usher knows the sign. 47^ 

Seek thou the King without delay ; 

This signet shall secure thy way : 

And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, 

As ransom of his pledge to me. '' 

He placed the golden circlet on, 4go 

Paused — kissed her hand — and then was gone. 

The aged Minstrel stood aghast. 

So hastily Fitz- James shot past. 

He joined his guide, and wending do\yn 

The ridges of the mountain brown, 48b 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 111 

Across the stream they took their Nay 
That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. 

XX 

All in the Trosachs' glen was still, 

Noontide was sleeping on the hill: 

Sudden his guide whooped loud and high — 490 

* 'Murdoch ! was that a signal cry ?" — 

He stammered forth, ' 1 shout to scare 

Yon raven from his dainty fare. '^ 

He looked — he knew the raven's prey, 

His own brave steed : ' 'Ah ! gallant gray ! 495 

For thee — for me, perchance — 't were well 

We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell. — 

Murdoch, move first — but silently ; 

Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!" 

Jealous and sullen on they fared, soo 

Each silent, each upon his guard. 

XXI 

Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 

Around a precipice's edge, 

When lo ! a wasted female form, 

Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 505 

In tattered weeds and wild array. 

Stood on a cliff beside the way, 

And glancing round her restless eye. 

Upon the wood, the rock, the sky. 

Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. 510 

Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom ; 

With gesture wild she waved a plume 

Of feathers, which the eagles fling 



112 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i> 

To crag and cliff from dusky wing ; 

Such spoils her desperate step had sought, 515 

Where scarce was footing for the goat. 

The tartan plaid she first descried, 

And shrieked till all the rocks replied ; 

As loud she laughed when near they drew, 

For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 500 

And then her hands she wildly wrung, 

And then she wept, and then she sung — 

She sung ! — the voice, in better time, 

Perchance to harp or lute might chime; 

And now, though strained and roughened, still 505 

Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. 

XXII 

SONG 
They bid me sleep, they bid me pray. 

They say my brain is warped and wrung — 
I cannot sleep on Highland brae, 

I cannot pray in Highland tongue. 530 

But were I now where Allan glides, 
Or heard my native Devan's tides. 
So sweetly would I rest, and pray 
That Heaven would close my wintry day ! 

'T was thus my hair they bade me braid, 535 
They made me to the church repair ; 

It was my bridal morn they said. 

And my true love would meet me there. 

But woe betide the cruel guile 

That drowned in blood the morning smile! 540 

And woe betide the fairy dream ! 

I only waked to sob and scream. 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 113 

XXIII 

**Who is this maid? what means her lay? 

She hovers o'er the hollow way, 

And flutters wide her mantle gray, 545 

As the lone heron spreads his wing, 

By twilight, o'er a haunted spring. " 

'' T is Blanche of Devan, " Murdoch said, 

''A crazed and captive Lowland maid, 

Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, 550 

When Roderick forayed Devan-side. 

The gay bridegroom resistance made, 

And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. 

I marvel she is now at large. 

But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 555 

Hence, brain-sick fool ! ' ' — He raised his bow : — 

''Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, 

I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far 

As ever peasant pitched a bar!" 

* Thanks, champion, thanks ! ' 'the Maniac cried, 500 

And pressed her to Fitz- James's side. 

''See the gray pennons I prepare. 

To seek my true love through the air I 

I will not lend that savage groom, 

To break his fall, one downy plume ! 565 

No ! — deep amid disjointed stones. 

The wolves shall batten on his bones, 

And then shall his detested plaid. 

By bush and brier in mid-air stayed. 

Wave forth a banner fair and free, 570 

Meet signal for their revelry. '^ 



114 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO iv 

XXIV 
'*Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still!'' 
*'0! thou look'st kindly, and I will. 
Mine eye has dried and wasted been, 
But still it loves the Lincoln green ; 575 

And, though mine ear is all unstrung, 
Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 

* Tor 0, my sweet William was forester true. 

He stole poor Blanche's heart away ! 
His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, ^so 
And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay! 

' It was not that I meant to tell . . . 

But thou art wise and guessest well. '' 

Then, in a low and broken tone. 

And hurried note, the song went on. 585 

Still on the Clansman fearfully 

She fixed her apprehensive eye, 

Then turned it on the Knight, and then 

Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 

XXV 

* The toils are pitched, and the stakesareset, — 390 

Ever sing merrily, merrily ; 
The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, 
Hunters live so cheerily. 

' Tt was a stag, a stag of ten. 

Bearing its branches sturdily; 595 

He came stately down the glen, — 

Ever sing hardily, hardily. 

**It was there he met with a wounded doe, 
She was bleeding deathfully : 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 115 

She warned him of the toils below, eoo 

0, so faithfully, faithfully ! 

*'He had an eye, and he could heed, — 

Ever sing warily, warily ; 
He had a foot, and he could speed, — 

Hunters watch so narrowly. " eos 

XXVI 

Fitz- James's mind was passion-tossed, 

When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; 

But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, 

And Blanche's song conviction brought. 

Not like a stag that spies the snare, eio 

But lion of the hunt aware. 

He waved at once his blade on high, 

* 'Disclose thy treachery, or die!" 

Forth at full speed the Clansman flew, 

But in his race his bow he drew. eis 

The shaft just grazed Fitz- James's crest, 

And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast. — 

Murdoch of Alpine ! prove thy speed, 

For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; 

With heart of fire, and foot of wind, 620 

The fierce avenger is behind ! 

Fate judges of the rapid strife — 

The forfeit death — the prize is life ; 

Thy kindred ambush lies before, 

Close couched upon the heathery moor; 625 

Them couldst thou roach ! — it may not be- 

Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shait see, 

The fiery Saxon gains on thee ! — 



116 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 

Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, 

As lightning strikes the pine to dust; ^30 

With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain 

Ere he can win his blade again. 

Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, 

He grimly smiled to see him die. 

Then slower wended back his way, ess 

Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. 

XXVII 

She sat beneath the birchen tree, 

Her elbow resting on her knee ; 

She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, 

And gazed on it, and feebly laughed ; e40 

Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, 

Daggled with blood, beside her lay. 

The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried, — 

* 'Stranger, it is in vain!'' she cried. 

*This hour of death has given me more 645 

Of reason's power than years before; 

For, as these ebbing veins decay, 

My frenzied visions fade away. 

A helpless injured wretch I die. 

And something tells me in thine eye eso 

That thou wert mine avenger born. 

Seest thou this tress? — 0, still Tve worn 

This little tress of yellow hair. 

Through danger, frenzy, and despair! 

It once was bright and clear as thine, 655 

But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. 

I will not tell thee when 't was shred. 

Nor from what guiltless victim's head, — 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 11? 

My brain would turn I-r-but it shall wave 

Like plumage on thy helmet brave, eeo 

Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, 

And thou wilt bring it me again. 

I waver still. — God! more bright 

Let reason beam her parting light ! — 

0, by thy knighthood's honored sign, ees 

And for thy life preserved by mine, 

When thou shalt see a darksome man, 

Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, 

With tartans broad and shadowy plume. 

And hand of blood, and brow of gloom, ero 

Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong. 

And wreak poor Blanche of Devan 's wrong ! — 

They watch for thee by pass and fell . . . 

Avoid the path . . . OGod! . . . farewell." 

XXVIII 
A kindly heart had brave Fitz- James; ers 

Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; 
And now, with mingled grief and ire. 
He saw the murdered maid expire. 
''God, in my need, be my relief. 
As I wreak this on yonder Chief!" eso 

A lock from Blanche's tresses fair 
He blended with her bridegroom's hair; 
The mingled braid in blood he dyed. 
And placed it on his bonnet-side : 
'*By Him whose word is truth, I swear, §85 

No other favor will I wear, 
Till this sad token I imbrue 
In the best blood of Roderick Dhu ! — 



118 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 

But hark ! what means yon faint halloo? 
The chase is up, — but they shall know, 69o 

The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe. " 
Barred from the known but guarded way, 
Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, 
And oft must change his desperate track 
By stream and precipice turned back. 695 

Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, 
From lack of food and loss of strength, 
He couched him in a thicket hoar, 
And thought his toils and perils o'er: — 
''Of all my rash adventures past, 700 

This frantic feat must prove the last ! 
Who e'er so mad but might have guessed 
That all this Highland hornet's nest 
Would muster up in swarms so soon 
•As e'er they heard of bands at Doune? — 705 
Like bloodhounds now they search me out, — 
Hark, to the whistle and the shout! — • 
If farther through the wilds I go, 
I only fall upon the foe : 

I'll couch me here till evening gray, 7to 

Then darkling try my dangerous way.'' 

XXIX 

The shades of eve come slowly down, 

The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 

The owl awakens from her dell, 

The fox is heard upon the fell ; 715 

Enough remains of glimmering light 

To guide the wanderer's steps aright, 

Yet not enough from far to show 



CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 119 

His figure to the watchful foe. 

With cautious step and ear awake, 720 

He climbs the crag and threads the brake ; 

And not the summer solstice there 

Tempered the midnight mountain air, 

But every breeze that swept the wold 

Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. 725 

In dread, in danger, and alone. 

Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, 

Tangled and steep, he journeyed on ; 

Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, 

A watch-fire close before him burned. 730 

XXX 
Beside its embers red and clear. 
Basked in his plaid a mountaineer ; 
And up he sprung with sword in hand, — 
''Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!'' 
' 'A stranger. " ''What dost thou require?" 735 
' 'Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 
My life's beset, my path is lost. 
The gale has chilled my limbs with frost. " 
' 'Art thou a friend to Roderick ?" ' 'No. ' ' 
"Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?" 740 

"I dare! to him and all the band 
He brings to aid his murderous hand. " 
' 'Bold words ! — but, though the beast of game 
The privilege of chase may claim. 
Though space and law the stag we lend, 745 

Ere hound we slip or bow we bend, 
Who ever recked, where, how, or when. 
The prowling fox was trapped or slain ? 



120 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto yi 

Thus treacherous scouts, — yet^sure they lie, 

Who say thou earnest a secret spy !" — ■ 750 

* 'They do, by heaven ! — come Roderick Dhu, 

And of his clan the boldest two. 

And let me but till morning rest, 

I write the falsehood on their crest. " 

'If by the blaze I mark aright, -55 

Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight/' 

' Then by these tokens mayst thou know 

Each proud oppressor's mortal foe/' 

"Enough, enough; sit down and share 

A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare." 76o 

XXXI 

He gave him of his Highland cheer. 

The hardened flesh of mountain deer ; 

Dry fuel on the fire he laid. 

And bade the Saxon share his plaid. 

He tended him like welcome guest, 765 

Then thus his further speech addressed : — 

' 'Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 

A clansman born, a kinsman true ; 

Each word against his honor spoke 

Demands of me avenging stroke ; 770 

Yet more, — upon thy fate, 't is said, 

A mighty augury is laid. 

It rests with me to wind my horn, — 

Thou art with numbers overborne; 

It rests with me, here, brand to brand, 775 

Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 

But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, 

Will I depart from honor's laws; 



OAx\TO IV THE PROPHECY 12t 

To assail a wearied man were shame, 

And stranger is a holy name ; ^ao 

Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 

In vain he never must require. 

Then rest thee here till dawn of day ; 

Myself will guide thee on the way, 

O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 735 

Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 

As far as Coilantogle's ford ; 

From thence thy warrant is thy sword. *' 

' 'I take thy courtesy, by heaven, 

As freely as 't is nobly given!" 79® 

*'Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry 

Sings us the lake's wild lullaby." 

With that he shook the gathered heath, 

And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 

And the brave foemen, side by side, 7^ 

Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 

And slept until the dawning beam 

Purpled the mountain and the stream. 



CANTO FIFTH 

THE COMBAT 
I 

Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 
When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, 

It smiles upon the dreary brow of night, 
And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide, 
And lights the fearful path on mountain-side, — 5 

Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, 
Giving to horror grace, to danger pride. 

Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star, 

Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow 
of War. 

II 

That early beam, so fair and sheen, 10 

Was twinkling through the hazel screen. 

When, rousing at its glimmer red. 

The warriors left their lowly bed. 

Looked out upon the dappled sky, 

Muttered their soldier matins by, is 

And then awaked their fire, to steal. 

As short and rude, their soldier meal. 

That o'er, the Gael around him threw 

His graceful plaid of varied hue. 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 123 

And, true to promise, led the way, ^ 

By thicket green and mountain gray. 

A wildering path ! — they winded now 

Along the precipice's brow, 

Commanding the rich scenes beneath, 

The windings of the Forth and Teith, 25 

And all the vales between that lie, 

Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky; 

Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance, 

Gained not the length of horseman's lance. 

'T was oft so steep, the foot was fain :^ 

Assistance from the hand to gain ; 

So tangled oft that, bursting through. 

Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 

That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 

It rivals all but Beauty's tear! 35 

III 

At length they came where, stern and steep, 

The hill sinks down upon the deep. 

Here Vennachar in silver flows, 

There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 

Ever the hollow path twined on, 40 

Beneath steep bank and threatening stone ; 

A hundred men might hold the post 

With hardihood against a host. 

The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 

Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 45 

With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 

And patches bright of bracken green, 

And heather black, that waved so high, 

It held the copse in rivalry. 



J24 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

But where the lake slept deep and still, 50 

Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; 

And oft both path and hill were torn, 

Where wintry torrent down had borne. 

And heaped upon the cumbered land 

Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. 55 

So toilsome was the road to trace, 

The guide, abating of his pace, 

Led slowly through the pass's jaws. 

And asked Fitz- James by what strange cause 

He sought these wilds, traversed by few, qq 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 

IV 

' 'Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried, 
Hangs in my belt and by my side ; 
Yet, sooth to tell/' the Saxon said, 
'1 dreamt not now to claim its aid. 
When here, but three days since, I came. 
Bewildered in pursuit of game, 
All seemed as peaceful and as still 
As the mist slumbering on yon hill; 
Thy dangerous Chief was then afar. 
Nor soon expected back from war. 
Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide. 
Though deep perchance the villian lied. '* 
*Tet why a second venture try?'' 
* 'A warrior thou, and ask me why ! — 
Moves our free course by such fixed cause 
As gives the poor mechanic laws ? 
Enough, I sought to drive away 
The lazy hours of peaceful day ; 



65 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 125 

Slight cause will then suffice to guide so 

A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 

A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, 

The merry glance of mountain maid ; 

Or, if a path be dangerous known. 

The danger's self is lure alone. " 85 

V 

' Thy secret keep, I urge thee not ; — 

Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, 

Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, 

Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?" 

' 'No, by my word ; — of bands prepared 90 

To guard King James's sports I heard ; 

Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear 

This muster of the mountaineer, 

Their pennons will abroad be flung, 

Which else in Doune had peaceful hung. " 95 

' Tree be they flung ! for we were loath 

Their silken folds should feast the moth. 

Free be they flung ! — as free shall wave 

Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. 

But, stranger, peaceful since you came, 100 

Bewildered in the mountain-game, 

Whence the bold boast by which you show 

Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?" 

* 'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew 

Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 105 

Save as an outlawed desperate man. 

The chief of a rebellious clan. 

Who, in the Regent's court and sight, 

With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight ; 



126 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO V 

Yet this alone might from his part no 

Sever each true and loyal heart. ' ' 

VI 

Wrathful at such arraignment foul, 
Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. 
\ A space he paused, then sternly said, 

' 'And heardst thou why he drew his blade V us 

Heardst thou that shameful word and blow 

Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? 

What recked the Chieftain if he stood 

On Highland heath or Holy -Rood? 

He rights such wrong where it is given, lao 

If it were in the court of heaven. " 

''Still was it outrage; — yet, 't is true. 

Not then claimed sovereignty his due ; 

While Albany with feeble hand 

Held borrowed truncheon of command, 125 

The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, 

Was stranger to respect and power. 

But then, thy Chieftain's robber life! — 

Winning mean prey by causeless strife. 

Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain 130 

His herds and harvest reared in vain, — 

Methinks a soul like thine should scorn 

The spoils from such foul foray borne.'* 

VII 
The Gael beheld him, grim the while, 
And answered with disdainful smile: 135 

"Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 
I marked thee send delighted eye 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 127 

Far to the south and east, where lay, 

Extended in succession gay. 

Deep waving fields and pastures green, 140 

With gentle slopes and groves between : — 

These fertile plains, that softened vale. 

Were once the birthright of the Gael ; 

The stranger came with iron hand, 

And from our fathers reft the land. 145 

Where dwell we now ? See, rudely swell 

Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. 

Ask we this savage hill we tread 

For fattened steer or household bread, 

Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, iso 

And well the mountain might reply, — 

To you, as to your sires of yore. 

Belong the target and claymore ! 

I give you shelter in my breast, 

Your own good blades must win the rest. ' 155 

Pent in this fortress of the North, 

Think 'st thou we will not sally forth. 

To spoil the spoiler as we may. 

And from the robber rend the prey ? 

Ay, by my soul ! — While on yon plain leo 

The Saxon rears one shock of grain. 

While of ten thousand herds there strays 

But one along yon river's maze, — 

The Gael, of plain and river heir, 

Shall with strong hand redeem his share. les 

Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold 

That plundering Lowland field and fold 

Is aught but retribution true ? 

Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu." 



128 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto V 

VIII 

Answered Fitz-James : ' 'And, if I sought, 170 

Think 'st thou no other could be brought? 

What deem ye of my path waylaid ? 

My life given o'er to ambuscade?'' 

' 'As of a meed to rashness due : 

Hadst thou sent warning fair and true, — 175 

I seek my hound or falcon strayed, 

I seek, good faith, a Highland maid, — 

Free hadst thou been to come and go. 

But secret path marks secret foe. 

Nor yet for this, even as a spy, iso 

Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die. 

Save to fulfil an augury." 

''Well, let it pass; nor will I now 

Fresh cause of enmity avow, 

To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 185 

Enough, I am by promise tied 

To match me with this man of pride : 

Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen 

In peace ; but when I come again, 

I come with banner, brand, and bow, 190 

As leader seeks his mortal foe. 

For love-lorn swain in lady's bower 

Ne'er panted for the appointed hour, 

As I, until before me stand 

This rebel Chieftain and his band!" 195 

IX 
* 'Have then thy wish ! ' ' — ^He whistled shrill, 
And he was answered from the hill; 
Wild as the scream of the curlew. 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 129 

From crag to crag the signal flew. 

Instant, through copse and heath, arose 200 

Bonnets and spears and bended bows ; 

On right, on left, above, below. 

Sprung up at once the lurking foe ; 

From shingles gray their lances start, - 

The bracken bush sends forth the dart, 205 

The rushes and the willow-wand 

Are bristling into axe and brand, 

And every tuft of broom gives life 

To plaided warrior armed for strife. 

That whistle garrisoned the glen 210 

At once with full five hundred men, 

As if the yawning hill to heaven 

A subterranean host had given. 

Watching their leader's beck and will, 

All silent there they stood and still. 215 

Like the loose crags whose threatening mass 

Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, 

As if an infant's touch could urge 

Their headlong passage down the verge. 

With step and weapon forward flung, 220 

Upon the mountain-side they hung. 

The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 

Along Benledi's living side, 

Then fixed his eye and sable brow 

Full on Fitz-James : ' 'How say 'st thou now ? 225 

These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; 

And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu!" 

X 

Fitz-James was brave : — though to his heart 
The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, 



130 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO v 

He manned himself with dauntless air, 230 

Returned the Chief his haughty stare, 

His back against a rock he bore. 

And firmly placed his foot before : — 

''Come one, come all! this rock shall fly 

From its firm base as soon as I. '* 235 

Sir Roderick marked,— and in his eyes 

Respect was mingled with surprise, 

And the stern joy which warriors feel 

In foeman worthy of their steel. 

Short space he stood — then waved his hand : m 

Down sunk the disappearing band ; 

Each warrior vanished where he stood. 

In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 

Sunk brand and spear and bended bow. 

In osiers pale and copses low ; 345 

It seeemd as if their mother Earth 

Had swallowed up her warlike birth. 

The wind's last breath had tossed in air 

Pennon and plaid and plumage fair, — 

The next but swept a lone hill-side, 250 

Where heath and fern were waving wide : 

The sun's last glance was glinted back 

From spear and glaive, from targe and jack, — 

The next, all unreflected, shone 

On bracken green and cold gray stone. 255 

XI 
Fitz- James looked round, — yet scarce believed 
The witness that his sight received ; 
Such apparition well might seem 
Delusion of a dreadful dream. 



jAOTo V THE COMBAT ISl 

Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, 

And to his look the Chief replied : 

'Tear naught — nay, that I need not say — 

But — doubt not aught from mine array. 

Thou art my guest ; — I pledged my word 

As far as Coilantogle ford : 265 

Nor would I call a clansman's brand 

For aid against one valiant hand, 

Though on our strife lay every vale 

Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. 

So move we on ; — ^I only meant 270 

To show the reed on which you leant, 

Deeming this path you might pursue 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. '' 

They moved ; — I said Fitz-James was brave 

As ever knight that belted glaive, 275 

Yet dare not say that now his blood 

Kept on its wont and tempered flood. 

As, following Roderick's stride, he drew 

That seeming lonesome pathway through, 

Which yet by fearful proof was rife 280 

With lances, that, to take his life. 

Waited but signal from a guide, 

So late dishonored and defied. 

Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round 

The vanished guardians of the ground, 285 

And still from copse and heather deep 

Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, 

And in the plover's shrilly strain 

The signal whistle heard again. 

Nor breathed he free till far behind 290 

The pass was left; for then they wind 



132 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

Along a wide and level green, 

Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, 

Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, 

To hide a bonnet or a spear. 295 

XII 

The Chief in silence strode before, 

And reached that torrent's sounding shore, 

Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 

From Vennachar in silver breaks, 

Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 300 

On Bochastle the mouldering lines, 

Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 

Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. 

And herfe his course the Chieftain stayed, 

Threw down his target and his plaid, 305 

And to the Lowland warrior said : 

''Bold Saxon! to his promise just, 

Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. 

This murderous Chief, this ruthless man. 

This head of a rebellious clan, 310 

Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 

Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 

Now, man to man, and steel to steel, 

A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 

See, here all vantageless I stand, 315 

Armed like thyself with single brand ; 

For this is Coilantogle ford. 

And thou must keep thee with thy sword. " 

XIII 
The Saxon paused : '1 ne'er delayed. 
When foeman bade me draw my blade ; 53^ 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 133 

Nay, more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death ; 

Yet sure thy fair and generous faith. 

And my deep debt for life preserved, 

A better meed have well deserved : 

Can naught but blood our feud atone ? 325 

Are there no means V — ' 'No, stranger, none ! 

And hear, — to fire thy flagging zeal, — • 

The Saxon cause rests on thy steel ; 

For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred 

Between the living and the dead : 330 

'Who spills the foremost foeman's life. 

His party conquers in the strife. ' " 

'Then, by my word,'' the Saxon said, 

"The riddle is already read. 

Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff, — • 335 

There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 

Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy ; 

Then yield to Fate, and not to me. 

To James at Stirling let us go. 

When, if thou wilt be still his foe, 340 

Or if the King shall not agree 

To grant thee grace and favor free, 

I plight mine honor, oath and word 

That, to thy native strengths restored. 

With each advantage shalt thou stand 345 

That aids thee now to guard thy land. '' 

XIV 
Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye: 
"Soars thy presumption, then, so high. 
Because a wretched kern ye slew, 
Homage to name to Roderick Dhu ? 350 



134 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto V 

He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 

Thou add'st but fuel to my hate ; — 

My clansman's blood demands revenge. 

Not yet prepared ? — By heaven, I change 

My thought, and hold thy valor light 055 

As that of some vain carpet knight. 

Who ill deserved my courteous care, 

And whose best boast is but to v^ear 

A braid of his fair lady's hair. " 

*1 thank thee, Roderick, for the word ! 300 

It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 

For I have sworn this braid to stain 

In the best blood that warms thy vein. 

Now, truce, farewell ! and, ruth, be gone ! — 

Yet think not that by thee alone, 365 

Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown ; 

Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn. 

Start at my whistle clansmen stern, 

Of this small horn one feeble blast 

Would fearful odds against thee cast. 37^ 

But fear not — doubt not — which thou wilt — 

We try this quarrel hilt to hilt. " 

Then each at once his falchion drew. 

Each on the ground his scabbard threw, 

Each looked to sun and stream and plain 375 

As what they ne'er might see again ; 

Then foot and point and eye opposed. 

In dubious strife they darkly closed. 

XV 

111 fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 

That on the field his targe he threw, m 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 135 

Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 

Had death so often dashed aside ; 

For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 

Fitz- James's blade was sword and shield. 

He practised every pass and ward, 385 

To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 

While less expert, though stronger far, 

The Gael maintained unequal war. 

Three times in closing strife they stood. 

And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood ; 390 

No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 

The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 

Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, 

And showered his blows like wintry rain ; 

And, as firm rock or castle -roof 395 

Against the winter shower is proof, 

The foe, invulnerable still, 

Foiled his wild rage by steady skill ; 

Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 

Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, 400 

And backward borne upon the lea, 

Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 

XVI 

*'Now yield thee, or by Him who made 
The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade 1" 
'Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 405 

Let recreant yield, who fears to die. " 
Like adder darting from his coil. 
Like wolf that dashes through the toil. 
Like mountain-cat who guards her young. 
Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; 410 



236 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO v 

Received, but recked not of a wound, 

And locked his arms his foeman round. — 

Now gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 

No maiden's hand is round thee thrown! 

That desperate grasp thy frame might feel 415 

Through bars of brass and triple steel ! 

They tug, they strain! down, down they go, 

The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 

The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, 

His knee was planted on his breast ; 420 

His clotted locks he backward threw. 

Across his brow his hand he drew. 

From blood and mist to clear his sight, 

Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! 

But hate and fury ill supplied 425 

The stream of life's exhausted tide. 

And all too late the advantage came. 

To turn the odds of deadly game : 

For, while the dagger gleamed on high. 

Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. 430 

Down came the blow ! but in the heath 

The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 

The struggling foe may now unclasp 

The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; 

Unwounded from the dreadful close, 435 

But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. 

XVH 
He faltered thanks to heaven for life. 
Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife ; 
!Next on his foe his look he cast. 
Whose every gasp appeared his last; 440 

In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid, — 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 137 

* Toor Blanche ! thy wrongs are dearly paid ; 

Yet with thy foe must die, or live, 

The praise that faith and valor give. ' ' 

With that he blew a bugle note, 445 

Undid the collar from his throat, 

Unbonneted, and by the wave 

Sat down his brow and hands to lave. 

Then faint afar are heard the feet 

Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 450 

The sounds increase, and now are seen 

Four mounted squires in Lincoln green ; 

Two who bear lance, and two who lead 

By loosened rein a saddled steed; 

Each onward held his headlong course, 455 

And by Fitz-James reined up his horse, — 

With wonder viewed the bloody spot, — 

''Exclaim not, gallants! question not. — 

You, Herbert and Luffness, alight, 

And bind the wounds of yonder knight ; 460 

Let the gray palfrey bear his weight. 

We destined for a fairer freight, 

And bring him on to Stirling straight; 

I will before at better speed. 

To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. 465 

The sun rides high ; — ^I must be boune 

To see the archer-game at noon ; 

But lightly Bayard clears the lea. — 

De Vaux and Herries, follow me. 

XVIII 

''Stand, Bayard, stand!" — the steed obeyed, 470 
With arching neck and bended head, 



13» THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO V 

And glancing eye and quivering ear, 

As if he loved his lord to hear. 

No foot Fitz-James in stirrup stayed, 

No grasp upon the saddle laid, 475 

But wreathed his left hand in the mane, 

And lightly bounded from the plain, 

Turned on the horse his armed heel, 

And stirred his courage with the steel. 

Bounded the fiery steed in air, 48o 

The rider sat erect and fair. 

Then like a bolt from steel crossbow 

Forth launched, along the plain they go. 

They dashed that rapid torrent through. 

And up Carhonie's hill they flew; 435 

Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, 

His merrymen followed as they might. 

Along thy banks, swift Teith ! they ride. 

And in the race they mock thy tide ; 

Torry and Lendrick now are past, 490 

And Deanstown lies behind them cast ; 

They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, 

They sink in distant woodland soon ; 

Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, 

They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre ; 495 

They mark just glance and disappear. 

The lofty brow of ancient Kier ; 

They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides, 

Dark Forth ! amid thy sluggish tides. 

And on the opposing shore take ground, 500 

With plash, with scramble, and with bound. 

Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth I 

And soon the bulwark of the North, 



CANTO V 



THE COMBAT 139 



Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, 
Upon their fleet career looked down. 505 

XIX 

As up the flinty path they strained, 

Sudden his steed the leader reined ; 

A signal to his squire he flung. 

Who instant to his stirrup sprung : — 

''Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, 510 

Who townward holds the rocky way, 

Of stature tall and poor array? 

Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, 

With which he scales the mountain-side ? 

Know'st thou from whence he comes,or whom f'515 

''No, by my word ; — a burly groom 

He seems, who in the field or chase 

A baron's train would nobly grace — " 

''Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply, 

And jealousy, no sharper eye ? 520 

Afar, ere to the hill he drew, 

That stately form and step I knew ; 

Like form in Scotland is not seen. 

Treads not such step on Scottish green. 

'T is James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 525 

The uncle of the banished Earl. 

Away, away, to court, to show 

The near approach of dreaded foe : 

The King must stand upon his guard ; 

Douglas and he must meet prepared. '* 530 

Thenright-hand wheeled their steeds,and straight 

They won the Castle's postern gate. 



140 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

XX 

The Douglas, who had bent his way 

From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, 

Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 535 

Held sad communion with himself : — 

**Yes! all is true my fears could frame; 

A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, 

And fiery Roderick soon will feel 

The vengeance of the royal steel. 540 

I, only I, can ward their fate, — 

God grant the ransom come not late ! 

The Abbess hath her promise given, 

My child shall be the bride of Heaven ; — 

Be pardoned one repining tear ! 545 

For He who gave her knows how dear 

How excellent ! — but that is by. 

And now my business is — to die. 

Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 

A Douglas by his sovereign bled ; 550 

And thou, sad and fatal mound ! 

That oft hast heard the death-axe sound, 

As on the noblest of the land 

Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — 

The dungeon, block and nameless tomb 555 

Prepare — for Douglas seeks his doom ! 

But hark ! what blithe and jolly peal 

Makes the Franciscan steeple reel ? 

And see ! upon the crowded street, 

In motley groups what masquers meet ! m 

Banner and pageant, pipe and drum. 

And merry morrice-dancers come. 

I guess, by all this quaint array, 



CAN^<^ 7 THE COMBAT 141 

The burghers hold their sports today. 

James will be there; he loves such show, 565 

Where the good yeoman bends his bow, " 

And the tough wrestler foils his foe. 

As well as where, in proud career. 

The high-born tilter shivers spear. 

ril follow to the Castle-park, 57o 

And play my prize ; — King James shall mark 

If age has tamed these sinews stark. 

Whose force so oft in happier days 

His boyish wonder loved to praise.'' 

XXI 

The Castle gates were open flung, 575 

The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, 

And echoed loud the flinty street 

Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, 

As slowly down the steep descent 

Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, 530 

While all along the crowded way 

Was jubilee and loud huzza. 

And ever James was bending low 

To his white jennet's saddle-bow. 

Doffing his cap to city dame, sss 

Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. 

And well the simperer might be vain, — 

He chose the fairest of the train. 

Gravely he greets each city sire, 

Commends each pageant's quaint attire, 590 

Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, 

And smiles and nods upon the crowd, 

Who rend the heavens with their acclaims, — 



142 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

"Long live the Commons' King, King James T' 

Behind the King thronged peer and knight 5% 

And noble dame and damsel bright, 

Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay 

Of the steep street and crowded way. 

But in the train you might discern 

Dark lowering brow and visage stern ; goo 

There nobles mourned their pride restrained, 

And the mean burgher's joys disdained; 

And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, 

Were each from home a banished man. 

There thought upon their own gray tower, soe 

Their waving woods, their feudal power. 

And deemed themselves a shameful part 

Of pageant which they cursed in heart. 

XXII 

Now, in the Castle-park, drew out 

Their checkered bands the joyous rout. eio 

There morricers, with bell at heel 

And blade in hand, their mazes wheel ; 

But chief, beside the butts, there stand 

Bold Robin Hood and all his band, — • 

Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, ds 

Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 

Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone. 

Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John • 

Their bugles challenge all that will 

In archery to prove their skill. 620 

The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 

His first shaft centred in the white, 

And when in turn he shot again, 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 143 

His second split the first in twain. 

From the King's hand must Douglas take 625 

A silver dart, the archers' stake; 

Fondly he watched, with watery eye, 

Some answering glance of sympathy, — 

No kind emotion made reply ! 

Indifferent as to archer wight, 63o 

The monarch gave the arrow bright. 

XXIII 
Now, clear the ring ! for, hand to hand. 
The manly wrestlers take their stand. 
Two o'er the rest superior rose. 
And proud demanded mightier foes, — 635 

Nor called in vain, for Douglas came. — 
For life is Hugh of Larbert lame ; 
Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 
Whom senseless home his comrades bare. 
Prize of the wrestling match, the King 540 

To Douglas gave a golden ring. 
While coldly glanced his eye of blue, 
As frozen drop of wintry dew. 
Douglas would speak, but in his breast 
His struggling soul his words suppresssed ; 645 
Indignant then he turned him where 
Their arms the brawny yeomen bare. 
To hurl the massive bar in air. 
When each his utmost strength had shown, 
The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone eso 

From its deep bed, then heaved it high. 
And sent the fragment through the sky 
A rood beyond the farthest mark ; 



144 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

And still in Stirling's royal park, 

The gray-haired sires, who know the past, 655 

To strangers point the Douglas cast, 

And moralize on the decay 

Of Scottish strength in modern day. 

XXIV 

The vale with loud applauses rang, 

The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. m 

The King, with look unmoved, bestowed 

A purse well filled with pieces broad. 

Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, 

And threw the gold among the crowd, 

Who now with anxious wonder scan, ces 

And sharper glance, the dark gray man ; 

Till whispers rose among the throng. 

That heart so free, and hand so strong, 

Must to the Douglas blood belong. 

The old men marked and shook the head, cro 

To see his hair with silver spread. 

And winked aside, and told each son. 

Of feats upon the English done. 

Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand 

Was exiled from his native land. ero 

The women praised his stately form, 

Though wrecked by many a winter's storm ; 

The youth with awe and wonder saw 

His strength surpassing Nature's law. 

Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, m 

Till murmurs rose to clamors loud. 

But not a glance from that proud ring 

Of peers who circled round the King 



CANTO V THE COMBAT H5 

With Douglas held communion kind, 

Or called the banished man to mind ; ess 

No, not from those who at the chase 

Once held his side the honored place, 

Begirt his board, and in the field 

Found safety underneath his shield ; 

For he whom royal eyes disown, ego 

When was his form to courtiers known I 

XXV 

The Monarch saw the gambols flag, 

And bade let loose a gallant stag, 

Whose pride, the holiday to crown, 

Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, 695 

That venison free and Bourdeaux wine 

Might serve the archery to dine. 

But Lufra,— whom from Douglas' side 

Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide. 

The fleetest hound in all the North, — • 700 

Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 

She left the royal hounds midway, 

And dashing on the antlered prey. 

Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank. 

And deep the flowing life-blood drank. 705 

The King's stout huntsman saw the sport 

By strange intrude** broken short, 

Came up, and with his leash unbound. 

In anger struck the noble hound. 

The Douglas had endured, that morn, 710 

The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, 

And last, and worst to spirit proud, 

Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 



146 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO v 

But Lufra had been fondly bred, 

To share his board, to watch his bed, 715 

And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck 

In maiden glee with garlands deck ; 

They were such playmates that with name 

Of Lufra Ellen's image came. 

His stifled wrath is brimming high, .-20 

In darkened brow and flashing eye; 

As waves before the bark divide. 

The crowd gave way before his stride ; 

Needs but a buffet and no more. 

The groom lies senseless in his gore. 725 

Such blow no other hand could deal, 

Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 

XXVI 

Then clamored loud the royal train. 

And brandished swords and staves amain. 

But stern the Baron's warning: ''Back! 730 

Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! 

Beware the Douglas. — Yes! behold, 

King James ! The Douglas, doomed of old, 

And vainly sought for near and far, 

A victim to atone the war, 735 

A willing victim, now attends, 

Nor craves thy grace but for his friends." — 

''Thus is my clemency repaid ? 

Presumptuous Lord!" the Monarch said; 

"Of thy misproud ambitious clan, 740 

Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, 

The only man, in whom a foe 

My woman-mercy would not know ; 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 147 

But shall a Monarch's presence brook 
Injurious blow and haughty look ? — • 745 

What ho ! the Captain of our Guard ! 
Give the offender fitting ward. — 
Break off the sports!'' — for tumult rose, 
And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, — 
* 'Break off the sports ! " he said and frowned, 750 
' 'And bid our horsemen clear the ground. ' ' 

XXVII 
Then uproar wild and misarray 
Marred the fair form of festal day. 
The horsemen pricked among the crowd. 
Repelled by threats and insult loud ; 755 

To earth are borne the old and weak, 
The timorous fly, the women shriek ; 
With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, 
The hardier urge tumultuous war. 
At once round Douglas darkly sweep 76o 

The royal spears in circle deep. 
And slowly scale the pathway steep. 
While on the rear in thunder pour 
The rabble with disordered roar. 
With grief the noble Douglas saw 765 

The Commons rise against the law, 
And to the leading soldier said : 
''Sir John of Hyndford, 't was my blade 
That knighthood on thy shoulder laid ; 
For that good deed permit me then 770 

A word with these misguided men. — 



148 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO V 

XXVIII 
' *Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me 
Ye break the bands of fealty. 
My life, my honor, and my cause, 
I tender free to Scotland's laws. t^s 

Are these so weak as must require 
The aid of your misguided ire ? 
Or if I suffer causeless wrong. 
Is then my selfish rage so strong, 
My sense of public weal so low, ^gc 

That, for mean vengeance on a foe. 
Those cords of love I should unbind 
Which knit my country and my kind? 
no! Believe, in yonder tower 
It will not soothe my captive hour, ^85 

To know those spears our foe should dread 
For me in kindred gore are red : 
To know, in fruitless brawl begun. 
For me that mother wails her son. 
For me that widow's mate expires, -go 

For me that orphans weep their sires, 
That patriots mourn insulted laws. 
And curse the Douglas for the cause. 
0, let your patience ward such ill. 
And keep your right to love me still!*' 



T95 



XXIX 

The crowd's wild fury sunk again 
In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 
With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed 
For blessings on his generous head 
Who for his country felt alone. 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 149 

And prized her blood beyond his own. 

Old men upon the verge of life 

Blessed him who stayed the civil strife ; 

And mothers held their babes on high, 

The self-devoted Chief to spy, 805 

Triumphant over wrongs and ire, 

To whom the prattlers owed a sire. 

Even the rough soldier's heart was moved ; 

As if behind some bier beloved, 

With trailing arms and drooping head, sio 

The Douglas up the hill he led. 

And at the Castle's battled verge. 

With sighs resigned his honored charge. 

XXX 

The offended Monarch rode apart, 

With bitter thought and swelling heart, sis 

And would not now vouchsafe again 

Through Stirling streets to lead his train. 

'*0 Lennox, who would wish to rule 

This changeling crowd, this common fool ? 

Hear'st thou, ' ' he said, ' 'the loud acclaim §20 

With which they shout the Douglas name? 

With like acclaim the vulgar throat 

Strained for King James their morning note ; 

With like acclaim they hailed the day 

When first I broke the Douglas sway ; 825 

And like acclaim would Douglas greet 

If he could hurl me from my seat. 

Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, 

Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? 

Vain as the leaf upon the stream, sso 



ioO THE LADY OF THE LAKE caxto v 

And fickle as a changeful dream ; 

Fantastic as a woman's mood, 

And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. 

Thou many-headed monster-thing, 

0, who would wish to be thy king? — sas 

XXXI 
' 'But soft ! what messenger of speed 
Spurs hitherward his panting steed ? 
I guess his cognizance afar — 
What from our cousin, John of Mar?" 
' 'He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 340 
Within the safe and guarded ground ; 
For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 
Most sure for evil to the throne, — 
The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
Has summoned his rebellious crew ; 8*5 

'T is said, in James of BothwelTs aid 
These loose banditti stand arrayed. 
The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune 
To break their muster marched, and soon 
Your Grace will hear of battle fought; 350 

But earnestly the Earl besought. 
Till for such danger he provide. 
With scanty train you will not ride." 

xxxn 

'Thou warn'st me I have done amiss, — 

i should have earlier looked to this ; 855 

I lost it in this bustling day. — 

Retrace with speed thy former way; 

Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, 



CANTO V THE COMBAT 151 

The best of mine shall be thy meed. 

Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, sec 

We do forbid the intended war ; 

Roderick this morn in single fight 

Was made our prisoner by a knight, 

And Douglas hath himself and cause 

Submitted to our kingdom's laws. 865 

The tidings of their leaders lost 

Will soon dissolve the mountain host, 

Nor would we that the vulgar feel, 

For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. 

Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly ! " sro 

He turned his steed, — ^'*My liege, I hie, 

Yet ere I cross this lily lawn 

I fear the broadswords will be drawn. " 

The turf the flying courser spurned. 

And to his towers the King returned. srs 

XXXIII 
111 with King James's mood that day 
Suited gay feast and minstrel lay ; 
Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, 
And soon cut short the festal song. 
Nor less upon the saddened town 88o 

The evening sunk in sorrow down. 
The burghers spoke of civil jar, 
Of rumored feuds and mountain war, 
Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, 
All up in arms ; — the Douglas too, 885 

They mourned him pent within the hold, 
''Where stout Earl William was of old." — 
And there his word the speaker stayed, 



152 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 

And finger on his lip he laid, 

Or pointed to his dagger blade. 89o 

But jaded horsemen from the west 

At evening to the Castle pressed, 

And busy talkers said they bore 

Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore; 

At noon the deadly fray begun, 895 

And lasted till the set of sun. 

Thus giddy rumor shook the town, 

Till closed the Night her pennons brown. 



CANTO SIXTH 

THE GUARD-ROOM 
I 

The sun, awakening, through the smoky air 

Of the dark city casts a sullen glance. 
Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, 

Of sinful man the sad inheritance; 

Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, 5 
Scaring the prowling robber to his den ; 

Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, 
And warning student pale to leave his pen, 
And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. 

What various scenes, and 0, what scenes of woe, 10 

Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam! 
The fevered patient, from his pallet low, 

Through crowded hospital beholds it stream ; 
The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam. 
The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, 15 
The love-lorn wretch starts from tormenting dream ; 
The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, 
Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble 
wail. 

II 
At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 
With soldier-step and weapon-clang, 20 

While drums with rolling note foretell 



T64t THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto \i 

Relief to weary sentinel. 
Through narrow loop and casement barred, 
The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 
And, struggling with the smoky air, - ^s 

Deadened the torches* yellow glare. 
In comfortless alliance shone 
The lights through arch of blackened stone, 
And showed wild shapes in garb of war, 
Faces deformed with beard and scar, 30 

All haggard from the midnight watch, 
And fevered with the stern debauch ; 
For the oak table's massive hoard, 
Flooded with wine, with fragments stored. 
And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, . 35 
Showed in what sport the night had flown. 
Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 
Some labored still their thirst to quench; 
Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands 
O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, 40 

While round them, or beside them flung. 
At every step their harness rung. 

Ill 
These drew not for their fields the sword, 
Like tenants of a feudal lord. 
Nor owned the patriarchal claim 45 

Of Chieftain in their leader's name; 
Adventurers they, from far who roved, 
To live by battle which they loved. 
There the Italian's clouded face. 
The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; 50 

The mountain-loving Switzer there 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 155 

More freely breathed in mountain-air ; 

The Fleming there despised the soil 

That paid so ill the laborer's toil; 

Their rolls showed French and German name ; 55 

And merry England's exiles came, 

To share, with ill-concealed disdain, 

Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. 

All brave in arms, well trained to wield 

The heavy halberd, brand, and shield ; «o 

In camps licentious, wild, and bold; 

In pillage fierce and uncontrolled ; 

And now, by holytide and feast. 

From rules of discipline released. 

IV 
They held debate of bloody fray. ss 

Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. 
Fierce was their speech, and mid their words 
Their hands oft grappled to their swords ; 
Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear 
Of wounded comrades groaning near, 70 

Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored 
Bore token of the mountain sword. 
Though, neighboring to the Court of Guard, 
Their prayers and feverish wails were heard, — 
Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 75 

And savage oath by fury spoke ! — . 
At length up started John of Brent, 
A yeoman from the banks of Trent ; 
A stranger to respect or fear. 
In peace a chaser of the deer, ^ 

In host a hardy mutineer, 



256 THE LADY OF THE LAKE Canto vi 

But still the boldest of the crew 

When deed of danger was to do. 

He grieved that day their games cut short, 

And marred the dicer's brawling sport, gs 

And shouted loud, "Renew the bowl! 

And, while a merry catch I troll. 

Let each the buxom chorus bear, 

Like brethren of the brand and spear. ' ' 

V 
SOLDIER'S SONG 

Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule 90 

Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl, 
That there's wrath and despair in the jolly black- 
jack. 
And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack; 
Yet whoop, Barnaby ! off with thy liquor 
Drink upsees out, and a tig for the vicar! 95 

Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip 
The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, 
Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, 
And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye ; 
Yet whoop. Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, 100 

Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar! 

Our vicar thus preaches, — and why should he not? 
For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot ; 
And 't is right of his oflftce poor laymen to lurch 
Who infringe the domains of our good Mother 
Church , 105 

Yet whoop, bully-boys ! off with your liquor. 
Sweet Marjorie's the word, and a fig for the vicar! 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 157 

VI 

The warder's challenge, heard without, 

Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. 

A soldier to the portal went, — no 

V'Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent ; 

And — beat for jubilee the drum ! — 

A maid and minstrel with him come. '' 

Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred. 

Was entering now the Court of Guard, us 

A harper with him, and, in plaid 

All muffled close, a mountain maid. 

Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view 

Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 

* 'What news ?" they roared : — ' 'I only know, 120 

From noon till eve we fought with foe, 

As wild and as untamable 

As the rude mountains where they dwell ; 

On both sides store of blood is lost, 

Nor much success can either boast." — 125 

''But whence thy captives, friend ? such spoil 

As theirs must needs reward thy toil. 

Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp ; 

Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp ! 

Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, lao 

The leader of a juggler band." 

VII 
"No, comrade; — no such fortune mine. 
After the fight these sought our line. 
That aged harper and the girl, 
And, having audience of the Earl, 135 

Mar bade I should purvey them steed, 



158 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 

And bring them hitherward with speed. 

Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, 

For none shall do them shame or harm. '' — 

' 'Hear ye his boast ? ' ' cried John of Brent, 140 

Ever to strife and jangling bent; 

''Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, 

And yet the jealous niggard grudge 

To pay the forester his fee ? 

ril have my share howe'er it be, us 

Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.'* 

Bertram his forward step withstood; 

And, burning in his vengeful mood. 

Old Allan, though unfit for strife. 

Laid hand upon his dagger-knife; iso 

But Ellen boldly stepped between, 

And dropped at once the tartan screen : — 

So, from his morning cloud, appears 

The sun of May through summer tears. 

The savage soldiery, amazed ^^' 

As on descended angel gazed ; 

Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, 

Stood half admiring, half asham.ed. 

VIII 

Boldly she spoke : "Soldiers, attend! 
My father was the soldier's friend, i6c 

Cheered him in camps, in marches led. 
And with him in the battle bled. 
Not from the valiant or the strong 
Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.'* 
Answered De Brent, most forward still 165 

In every feat or good or ill : 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 159 

* 1 shame me of the part I played ; 

And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid ! 

An outlaw I by forest laws, 

And merry Needwood knows the cause. 170 

Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now, ' ' — 

He wiped his iron eye and brow, — 

**Must bear such age, I think, as thou. — 

Hear ye, my mates ! I go to call 

The Captain of our watch to hall : 175 

There lies my halberd on the floor ; 

And he that steps my halberd o'er. 

To do the maid injurious part. 

My shaft shall quiver in his heart! 

Beware rude speech, or jesting rough ; iso 

Ye all know John de Brent. Enough. " 

IX 

Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 

Of Tullibardine's house he sprung, — 

Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 

Gay was his mien, his humor light, 185 

And, though by courtesy controlled, 

Forward his speech, his bearing bold. 

The high-born maiden ill could brook 

The scanning of his curious look 

And dauntless eye : — and yet, in sooth, 190 

Young Lewis was a generous youth ; 

But Ellen's lovely face and mien, 

111 suited to the garb and scene, 

Might lightly bear construction strange. 

And give loose fancy scope to range. las 

''Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid! 



160 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto Vl 

Come ye to seek a champion's aid, 

On palfrey white, with harper hoar. 

Like errant damosel of yore ? 

Does thy high quest a knight require, 200 

Or may the venture suit a squire?" 

Her dark eye flashed ; — shepaused and sighed : — 

''0, what have I to do with pride! — 

Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 

A suppliant for a father's life, 205 

I crave an audience of the King. 

Behold, to back my suit, a ring. 

The royal pledge of grateful claims, 

Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James. '' 

X 

The signet-ring young Lewis took 210 

With deep respect and altered look, 

And said i ' 'This ring our duties own ; 

And pardon, if to worth unknown, 

In semblance mean obscurely veiled. 

Lady, in aught my folly failed. 215 

Soon as the day flings wide its gates, 

The King shall know what suitor waits. 

Please you meanwhile in fitting bower 

Repose you till his waking hour ; 

Female attendance shall obey 22c 

Your best, for service or array. 

Permit I marshal you the way. ' ' 

But, ere she followed, with the grace 

And open bounty of her race, 

She bade her slender purse be shared ^^25 

Among the soldiers of the guard. 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 161 

The rest with thanks their guerdon took, 

But Brent, with shy and awkward look, 

On the reluctant maiden's hold 

Forced bluntly back the proffered gold : — iiao 

'Torgive a haughty English heart. 

And 0, forget its ruder part ! 

The vacant purse shall be my share, 

Which in my barret-cap Til bear. 

Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 235 

Where gayer crests may keep afar. ' ' 

With thanks — 'twas all she could — the maid 

His rugged courtesy repaid, 

XI 

When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 

Allan made suit to John of Brent: — 240 

' 'My lady safe, 0, let your grace 

Give me to see my master's face! 

His minstrel I, — to share his doom 

Bound from the cradle to the tomb. 

Tenth in descent, since first my sires 245 

Waked for his noble house their lyres. 

Nor one of all the race was known 

But prized its weal above their own. 

With the Chief's birth begins our care; 

Our harp must soothe the infant heir, 250 

Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace 

His earliest feat of field or chase ; 

In peace, in war, our rank we keep, 

We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep. 

Nor leave him till we pour our verse — ■ 355 

A doleful tribute ! — o'er his hearse. 



162 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO vi 

Then let me share his captive lot; 

It is my right, — deny it not!" 

''Little we reck, " said John of Brent, 

* 'We Southern men, of long descent ; aeo 

Nor wot we how a name — a word — 

Makes clansmen vassals to a lord : 

Yet kind my noble landlord's part, — 

God bless the house of Beaudesert ! 

And, but I loved to drive the deer 265 

More than to guide the laboring steer, 

I had not dwelt an outcast here. 

Come, good old Minstrel, follow me ; 

Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see. " 

XII 

Then, from a rusted iron hook, sro 

A bunch of ponderous keys he took. 

Lighted a torch, and Allan led 

Through grated arch and passage dread. 

Portals they passed, where, deep within. 

Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din; ^^75 

Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, 

Lay wheel, and axe, and headsman's sword 

And many a hideous engine grim. 

For wrenching joint and crushing limb, 

By artists formed who deemed it shame -zso 

And sin to give their work a name. 

They halted at a low-browed porch. 

And Brent to Allan gave the torch. 

While bolt and chain he backward rolled, 

And made the bar unhasp its hold. .35 

They entered : — 't was a prison -room 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 163 

Of stern security and gloom, 

Yet not a dungeon ; for the day 

Through lofty gratings found its way, 

And rude and antique garniture 290 

Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, 

Such as the rugged days of old 

Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. 

' 'Here, ' ' said De Brent, * 'thou mayst remain 

Till the Leech visit him again. 295 

Strict is his charge, the warders tell, 

To tend the noble prisoner well. '' 

Retiring then, the bolt he drew. 

And the lock's murmurs growled anew. 

Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 300 

A captive feebly raised his head ; 

The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew — 

Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu ! 

For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought. 

They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. 305 

XIII 

As the tall ship whose lofty prore 

Shall never stem the billows more, 

Deserted by her gallant band. 

Amid the breakers lies astrand, — 

So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu 1 310 

And oft his fevered limbs he threw 

In toss abrupt, as when her sides 

Lie rocking in the advancing tides. 

That shake her frame with ceaseless beat. 

Yet cannot heave her from her seat ; — 315 

0, how unlike her course at sea! 



164 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 

Or his free step on hill and lea! — 

Soon as the Minstrel he could scan, — 

*'What of thy lady?— of my clan?— 

My mother? — Douglas? — tell me all I 320 

Have they been ruined in my fall ? 

Ah, yes ! or wherefore art thou here ? 

Yet speak, — speak boldly, — do not fear/' — • 

For Allan, who his mood well knew. 

Was choked with grief and terror too. — 325 

"Who fought ? — who fled ?— Old man, be brief ;— 

Some might, — for they had lost their Chief. 

Who basely live? — who bravely died?'' 

'*0, calm thee, Chief!" the Minstrel cried, 

^^Ellenissafe!" 'Tor that thank Heaven!" 330 

**And hopes are for the Douglas given ; — 

The Lady Margaret, too, is well ; 

And, for thy clan, — on field or fell. 

Has never harp of minstrel told 

Of combat fought so true and boJd. 335 

Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, 

Though many a goodly bough is rent. " 

XIV 

The Chieftain reared his form on high, 

And fever's fire was in his eye ; 

But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 340 

Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. 

**Hark, Minstrel! I have heard thee play, 

With measure bold on festal day, 

In yon lone isle, — again where ne'er 

Shall harper play or warrior hear ! — 345 

That stirring air that peals on high. 



CANTO vr THE GUARD-ROOM 165 

O'er Dermid's race our victory. — ■ 

Strike it! — and then, — for well thou canst, — ■ 

Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced- 

Fling me the picture of the fight, 350 

AVhen met my clan the Saxon might. 

r\\ listen, till my fancy hears 

The clang of swords, the crash of spears ! 

These grates, these walls, shall vanish then 

For the fair field of fighting men, 355 

And my free spirit burst away, 

As if it soared from battle fray." 

The trembling Bard with awe obeyed, — 

Slow on the harp his hand he laid ; 

But soon remembrance of the sight 36o 

He witnessed from the mountain's height, 

With what old Bertram told at night. 

Awakened the full power of song, 

And bore him in career along ; — 

As shallop launched on river's tide, 365 

That slow and fearful leaves the side. 

But, when it feels the middle stream. 

Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. 

XV 

BATTLE OF BEAL' AN DUINE 

''The Minstrel came once more to view 

The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 370 

For ere he parted he would say 

Farewell to lovely Loch Achray — ■ 

Where shall he find, in foreign land, 

So lone a lake, so sweet a strand ! — 

There is no breeze upon the fern, 37s 



166 THE LADY OF THE LAKE CANTO VI 

No ripple on the lake, 
Upon her eyry nods the erne, 

The deer has sought the brake ; 
The small birds will not sing aloud. 

The springing trout lies still, aso 

So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud. 
That swathes, as with a purple shroud, 

Benledi's distant hill. 
Is it the thunder's solemn sound 

That mutters deep and dread, age 

Or echoes from the groaning ground 

The warrior's measured tread ? 
Is it the lightning's quivering glance 

That on the thicket streams, 
Or do they flash on spear and lance 390 

The sun's retiring beams? — 
I see the dagger-crest of Mar, 
I see the Moray's silver star, 
Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, 
That up the lake comes winding far ! 396 

To hero boune for battle-strife. 

Or bard of martial lay, 
'T were worth ten years of peaceful life, 

One glance at their array ! 

XVI 
* Their light-armed archers far and near 400 

Surveyed the tangled ground. 
Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, 

A twilight forest frowned. 
Their barded horsemen in the rear 

The stern battalia crowned. 405 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 167 

No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, 

Still were the pipe and drum ; 
Save heavy tread, and armor's clang. 

The sullen march was dumb. 
There breathed no wind their crests to shake, 410 

Or wave their flags abroad ; 
Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake. 

That shadowed o'er their road. 
Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, 

Can rouse no lurking foe, 415 

Nor spy a trace of living thing. 

Save when they stirred the roe ; 
The host moves like a deep-sea wave. 
Where rise no rocks its pride to brave. 

High-swelling, dark, and slow. 420 

The lake is passed, and now they gain 
A narrow and a broken plain, 
Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws; 
And here the horse and spearmen pause. 
While, to explore the dangerous glen, 425 

Dive through the pass the archer-men. 

XVII 
**At once there rose so wild a yell 
Within that dark and narrow dell. 
As all the fiends from heaven that fell 
Had pealed the banner-cry of hell ! 430 

Forth from the pass in tumult driven, 
Like chaff before the wind of heaven. 

The archery appear : 
For life ! for life ! their flight they ply — 
And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, 435 



168 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 

And plaids and bonnets waving high, 
And broadswords flashing to the sky, 

Are maddening in the rear. 
Onward they drive in dreadful race. 

Pursuers and pursued ; 440 

Before that tide of flight and chase, 
How shall it keep its rooted place. 

The spearmen's twilight wood? — 
'Down, down, ' cried Mar, 'your lances down ! 

Bear back both friend and foe!' — 445 

Like reeds before the tempest's frown. 
That serried grove of lances brown 

At once lay levelled low ; 
And closely shouldering side to side. 
The bristling ranks the onset bide. — 450 
'We'll quell the savage mountaineer. 

As their Tinchel cows the game ! 
They come as fleet as forest deer. 
We'll drive them back as tame. ' 

XVIII 
"Bearing before them in their course 455 

The relics of the archer force, 
Like wave with crest of sparkling foam. 
Right onward did Clan- Alpine come. 
Above the tide, each broadsword bright 
Was brandishing like beam of light, m 

Each targe was dark below ; 
And with the ocean's mighty swing. 
When heaving to the tempest's wing. 
They hurled them on the foe. 
I heard the lance's shivering crash, 465 



CANTO V THE GUARD-ROOM 169 

As when the whirlwind rends the ash ; 
I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, 
As if a hundred anvils rang! 
But Moray wheeled his rearward rank 
Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank, — 470 

'My banner-man, advance ! 
I see, ' he cried, 'their column shake. 
Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake. 

Upon them with the lance!' — 
The horsemen dashed among the rout, 475 

As deer break through the broom ; 
Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, 

They soon make lightsome room. 
Clan- Alpine's best are backward borne — 

Where, where was Roderick then ! 48o 

One blast upon his bugle-horn 
Were worth a thousand men. 
And refluent through the pass of fear 

The battle's tide was poured; 
Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, 435 

Vanished the mountain-sword. 
As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, 

Receives her roaring linn. 
As the dark caverns of the deep 

Suck the wild whirlpool in, 490 

So did the deep and darksome pass 
Devour the battle's mingled mass; 
None linger now upon the plain, 
Save those who ne'er shall flght again. 



170 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto VI 

XIX 
'*Now westward rolls the battle's din, 495 

That deep and doubling pass within. — 
Minstrel, away I the work of fate 
Is bearing on ; its issue wait. 
Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile 
Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. soo 

Gray Benvenue I soon repassed. 
Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. 
The sun is set ; — the clouds are met 

The lowering scowl of heaven 
An inky hue of livid blue 505 

To the deep lake has given ; 
Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen 
Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. 
I heeded not the eddying surge, 
Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, 510 

Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, 
Which like an earthquake shook the ground, 
And spoke the stern and desperate strife 
That parts not but with parting life. 
Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll 515 

The dirge of many a passing soul. 
Nearer it comes — the dim -wood glen 
The martial flood disgorged again, 

But not in mingled tide ; 
The plaided warriors of the North sao 

High on the mountain thunder forth 

And overhang its side, 
While by the lake below appears 
The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. 
At weary bay each shattered band, 535 

Eying their foemen, sternly stand ; 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 171 

Their banners stream like tattered sail, 
That flings its fragments to the gale, 
And broken arms and disarray 
Marked the fell havoc of the day. 530 

XX 

'^Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, 
The Saxons stood in sullen trance, 
Till Moray pointed with his lance, 

And cried : 'Behold yon isle ! — 
See ! none are left to guard its strand 535 

But women weak, that wring the hand : 
'T is there of yore the robber band 

Their booty wont to pile ; — 
My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, 
To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, 540 

And loose a shallop from the shore. 
Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then. 
Lords of his mate, and brood, and den. ' 
Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung. 
On earth his casque and corselet rung, 545 

He plunged him in the wave : — 
All saw the deed, — the purpose knew, 
And to their clamors Benvenue 

A mingled echo gave ; 
The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, 550 

The helpless females scream for fear, 
And yells for rage the mountaineer. 
'T was then, as by the outcry riven, 
Poured down at once the lowering heaven ; 
A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, 555 
Her billows reared their snowy crest. 



172 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 

Well for the swimmer swelled they high, 

To mar the Highland marksman's eye; 

For round him showered, mid rain and hail, 

The vengeful arrows of the Gael. 5tjo 

In vain. — He nears the isle — and lo! 

His hand is on a shallop's bow. 

Just then a flash of lightning came, 

It tinged the waves and strand with flame ; 

I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, 565 

Behind an oak I saw her stand, 

A naked dirk gleamed in her hand : — 

It darkened, — but amid the moan 

Of waves I heard a dying groan ; — 

Another flash ! — the spearman floats 570 

A weltering corse beside the boats. 

And the stern matron o'er him stood, 

Her hand and dagger streaming blood. 

XXI 

" 'Revenge! revenge!' the Saxons cried, 

The Gaels' exulting shout replied. 575 

Despite the elemental rage. 

Again they hurried to engage ; 

But, ere they closed in desperate fight. 

Bloody with spurring, came a knight. 

Sprung from his horse, and from a crag 580 

Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. 

Clarion and trumpet by his side 

Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, 

While, in the Monarch's name, afar 

A herald ^s voice forbade the war, 535 

For Both well's lord and Roderick bold 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 173 

Were both, he said, in captive hold. ' ' — 

But here the lay made sudden stand, 

The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand! 

Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy 590 

How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy: 

At first, the Chieftain, to the chime. 

With lifted hand kept feeble time ; 

That motion ceased, — yet feeling strong 

Varied his look as changed the song ; 595 

At length, no more his deafened ear 

The minstrel melody can hear; 

His face grows sharp, — his hands are clenched, 

As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched ; 

Set are his teeth, his fading eye eoo 

Is sternly fixed on vacancy ; 

Thus, motionless and moanless, drew 

His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu !— 

Old Allan-bane looked on aghast. 

While grim and still his spirit passed ; eos 

But when he saw that life was fled, 

He poured his wailing o'er the dead 

XXH 

LAMENT 

''And art thou cold and lowly laid. 

Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, 

Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade! 610 

For thee shall none a requiem say ? — 

For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, 

For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, 

The shelter of her exiled line. 

E'en in this prison-house of thine, eis 

I'll wail for Alpine's honored Pine! 



174 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto Vl 

**What groans shall yonder valleys fill! 
What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill ! 
What tears of burning rage shall thrill, 
When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, eso 
Thy fall before the race was won, 
Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun ! 
There breathes not clansman of thy line, 
But would have given his life for thine. 
0, woe for Alpine's honored Pine! ess 

''Sad was thy lot on mortal stage ! — 

The captive thrush may brook the cage, 

The prisoned eagle dies for rage. 

Brave spirit, do not scorn my strain 1 

And, when its notes awake again, eso 

Even she, so long beloved in vain. 

Shall with my harp her voice combine, 

And mix her woe and tears with mine, 

To wail Clan-Alpine's honored Pine.'' 

XXIII 

Ellen the while, with bursting heart, 635 

Remained in lordly bower apart. 

Where played, with many-colored gleams^ 

Through storied pane the rising beams. 

In vain on gilded roof they fall, 

And lightened up a tapestried wall, 64o 

And for her use a menial train 

A rich collation spread in vain. 

The banquet proud, the chamber gay, 

Scarce drew one curious glance astray ; 

Or if she looked, 't was but to say, 645 

With better omen dawned the day 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 175 

In that lone isle, where waved on high 

The dun-deer's hide for canopy ; 

Where oft her noble father shared 

The simple meal her care prepared, eso 

While Lufra, crouching by her side. 

Her station claimed with jealous pride. 

And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 

Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, 

Whose answer, oft at random made, ess 

The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. 

Those who such simple joys have known 

Are ta,ught to prize them when they're gone. 

But sudden, see, she lifts her head, 

The window seeks with cautious tread. eeo 

What distant music has the power 

To win her in this woful hour? 

'T was from a turret that o'erhung 

Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 

XXIV 

LAY OF THE IMPRISONED HUNTSMAN 

' 'My hawk is tired of perch and hood, ees 

My idle greyhound loathes his food, 

My horse is weary of his stall. 

And I am sick of captive thrall. 

I wish I were as I have been. 

Hunting the hart in forest green, ero 

With bended bow and bloodhound free, 

For that's the life is meet for me. 

* 'I hate to learn the ebb of time 
From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, 



176 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto VI 

Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, ers 

Inch after inch, along the wall. 

The lark was wont my matins ring, 

The sable rook my vespers sing ; 

These towers, although a king's they be, 

Have not a hall of joy for me. eso 

' 'No more at dawning morn I rise, 

And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, 

Drive the fleet deer the forest through, 

And homeward wend with evening dew ; 

A blithesome welcome blithely meet, ess 

And lay my trophies at her feet, 

While fled the eve on wing of glee,— 

That life is lost to love and me!" 

XXV 

The heart-sick lay was hardly said, 

The listener had not turned her head, 69o 

It trickled still, the starting tear, 

When light a footstep struck her ear, 

And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. 

She turned the hastier, lest again 

The prisoner should renew his strain. 695 

**0, welcome, brave Fitz- James ! " she said ; 

* 'How may an almost orphan maid 

Pay the deep debt — " ''0, say not so! 

To me no gratitude you owe. 

Not mine, alas ! the boon to give, ?oo 

And bid thy noble father live ; 

I can but be thy guide, sweet maid. 

With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. 



705 



no 



Canto VI THE GUARD-ROOM 177 

No tyrant he, though ire and pride 

May lay his better mood aside. 

Come, Ellen, come ! 't is more than time. 

He holds his court at morning prime. " 

With beating heart, and bosom wrung, 

As to a brother's arm she clung. 

Gently he dried the falling tear, 

And gently whispered hope and cheer ; 

Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, 

Through gallery fair and high arcade. 

Till at his touch its wings of pride 

A portal arch unfolded wide. 7i5 

XXVI 

Within 't was brilliant all and light, 

A thronging scene of figures bright ; 

It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight. 

As when the setting sun has given 

Ten thousand hues to summer even. 

And from their tissue fancy frames 

Aerial knights and fairy dames. 

Still by Fitz-James her footing stayed ; 

A few faint steps she forward made, 

Then slow her drooping head she raised. 

And fearful round the presence gazed ; 

For him she sought who owned this state, 

The dreaded Prince whose will was fate! — 

She gazed on many a princely port 

Might well have ruled a royal court; 730 

On many a splendid garb she gazed,— 

Then turned bewildered and amazed, 

For all stood bare ; and in the room 



720 



25 



178 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto yi 

Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. 

To him each lady's look was lent, 7;35 

On him each courtier's eye was bent; 

Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, 

He stood, in simple Lincoln green, 

The centre of the glittering ring, — 

And Snowdoun 's Knight is Scotland 's King ! 740 

XXVII 

As wreath of snow on mountain-breast 

Slides from the rock that gave it rest, 

Poor Ellen glided from her stay. 

And at the Monarch's feet she lay; 

No word her choking voice commands, — 745 

She showed the ring, — she clasped her hands. 

0, not a moment could he brook. 

The generous Prince, that suppliant look ! 

Gently he raised her, — and, the while. 

Checked with a glance the circle's smile ; 750 

Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed. 

And bade her terrors be dismissed : — 

' Tes, fair ; the wandering poor Fitz-James 

The fealty of Scotland claims. 

To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 755 

He will redeem his signet ring. 

Ask naught for Douglas ; — yester even, 

His Prince and he have much forgiven ; 

Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, 

1, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. 76o 
We would not, to the vulgar crowd, 

, Yield what they craved with clamor loud; 
Calmly we heard and judged his cause, 



UANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 179 

Our council aided and our laws. 

I stanched thy father's death-feud stern res 

With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn ; 

And BothwelTs Lord henceforth we own 

The friend and bulwark of our throne. — 

But, lovely infidel, how now ? 

What clouds thy misbelieving brow ? 770 

Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid ; 

Thou must confirm this doubting maid. ' ' 

XXVIII 

Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 

And on his neck his daughter hung. 

The Monarch drank, that happy hour, 775 

The sweetest, holiest draught of Power, — 

When it can say with godlike voice. 

Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice ! 

Yet would not James the general eye 

On nature's raptures long should pry ; 78o 

He stepped between — ' 'Nay, Douglas, nay. 

Steal not my proselyte away ! 

The riddle 't is my right to read, 

That brought this happy chance to speed. 

Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray 785 

In life's more low but happier way, 

'T is under name which veils my power. 

Nor falsely veils, — for Stirling's tower 

Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, 

And Normans call me James Fitz-James. 790 

Thus watch I o'er insulted laws. 

Thus learn to right the injured cause." 

Then, in a tone apart and low, — 



180 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 

* 'Ah, little traitress ! none must know 

What idle dream, what lighter thought, ^95 

What vanity full dearly bought. 

Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew 

My spell-bound steps to Benvenue 

In (^angerous hour, and all but gave 

Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive!" 8oi> 

Aloud he spoke: 'Thou still dost hold 

That little talisman of gold. 

Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring, — 

What seeks fair Ellen of the King?" 

XXIX 

Full well the conscious maiden guessed sos 

He probed the weakness of her breast; 

But with that consciousness there came 

A lightening of her fears for Graeme, 

And more she deemed the Monarch's ire 

Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire sio 

Rebellious broadsword boldly drew ; 

And, to her generous feeling true. 

She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. 

' 'Forbear thy suit; — the King of kings 

Alone can stay life's parting wings. sis 

I know his heart, I know his hand, 

Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand ; — 

My fairest earldom would I give 

To bid Clan-Alpine's Chieftain live! — 

Hast thou no other boon to crave ? 820 

No other captive friend to save?" 

Blushing, she turned her from the King, 

And to the Douglas gave the ring. 



CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 181 

As if she wished her sire to speak 

The suit that stained her glowing cheek. 325 

''Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 

And stubborn justice holds her course. 

Malcolm, come forth!'' — ^and, at the word, 

Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. 

' Tor thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, m 

From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, 

Who, nurtured underneath our smile. 

Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, 

And sought amid thy faithful clan 

A refuge for an outlawed man, 835 

Dishonoring thus thy loyal name. — 

Fetters and warder for the Graeme!" 

His chain of gold the King unstrung. 

The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung. 

Then gently drew the glittering band, 84o 

And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. 



Harp of the North, farewell ! The hills grow dark, 
On purple peaks a deeper shade descending ; 

In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, 
The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. §45 
Resume thy wizard elm ! the fountain lending, 

And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; 

Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, 

With distant echo from the fold and lea, [sso 

And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. 

Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! 
Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, 



182 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto VI 

And little reck I of the censure sharp 

May idly cavil at an idle lay. 

Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, 355 
Through secret woes the world has never known, 

When on the weary night dawned wearier day, 
And bitterer was the grief devoured alone. — 
That I overlive such woes, Enchantress ! is thine own. 

Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, seo 

Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string ! 
T is now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 

T is now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. 

Receding now, the dying numbers ring 
Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell ; ses 

And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring 
A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — 
And now, 't is silent all ! — Enchantress, fare thee 
well! 



NOTES 

CANTO FIRST 

1. Harp of the North ! The songs of the ancient Scotch min- 
strels were usually accompanied by the harp, which was the 
national musical instrument. The poet invokes the spirit of 
these old-time bards. 

2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved elm. So called because its 
twigs were used as riding-whips for good luck, and also as 
divining-rods. St. Fillan. A Scotch abbot of the seventh 
century, for whom a spring near Loch Lomond was named. 

10. Caledon. From Caledonia, the name given by the Ro- 
mans to that part of Scotland north of the Clyde and Forth. 

14. Each according pause. Each pause in the singing. 

29. Monan. Saint Monan was a Scotch monk of the fourth 
century who suffered martyrdom. 

31. Glenartney. See map for location of places mentioned. 

38. Warder. A keeper or guard. 

45. Beamed frontlet. After the fourth-year horns appear the 
head of a stag is said to be beamed. 

47. Tainted gale. The wind scented with the odor of the 
hunter can be perceived by animals at a great distance. 

53. Uam-Var. Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more 
properly, Uaighmor, is a mountain to the northeast of the 
village of Callander in Menteith, deriving its name, which sig- 
nifies the great den or cavern, from a sort of retreat among 
the rocks on the south side, said by tradition to have been the 
abode of a giant. In later times it was the refuge of robbers 
and banditti, who have been extirpated only within these forty 
or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, 
as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure or recess 
surrounded with large rocks and open above head.— Scott. 

54. Opening pack. A hunting term referring to the barking 
of the hounds when they catch sight of the game, or regain 
the scent. 

66. Cairn. A heap of stones. 

67. Rout. A confused crowd. 

71. Linn. A pool ; sometimes a cataract, as in Canto II, 
270: Bracklinn ; sometimes a precipice. See also Canto VI, 488. 



1S4 NOTES 

80. Pertorce. A poetical word. 
84. Shrewdly. Severely. 

102. 'T were. It would be, 

103. Cambusmore. An estate near Callander on the banks 
of the Keltie. 

107. Teith. Thi.s river, receiving the waters from several 
lochs, was liable to overflow its banks in the rainy season. 

112. Brigg of Turk. An old stone bridge over the Turk, a 
small stream flowing through Glenfinlas valley. 

115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. 

120. St. Hubert's breed. The abbots of St. Hubert have 
always kept sjme hounds of this race in honor of their patron 
saint who was a hunter. 

127. Quarry. The hunted animal. 

131. Mountain. Benvenue. 

133. Turn to bay. When the stag is no longer able to es- 
cape from his pursuers, he turns to face and fight them. 

137. For the Death-wound, etc. When the stag turned to 
bay, the ancient hunter had the perilous task of going in upon 
and killing or disabling the desperate animal. At certain 
times of the year this was held particularly dangerous, a 
wound received from a stag's horn being then deemed poison- 
ous and more dangerous than one from the tusks of a boar — 
Scott. Death-halloo. The shout when the huntsman had giver 
the death stroke to the stag. 

138. Whinyard. A sword or knife. 

145. Trosachs. A name meaning "bristled valley" and now 
applied to the region between Lochs Katrine and Achray. 

150. Amain. With main, or full force. 

151. Yelled. Echoed back the barks of the dogs. 

166. Worth. From the old verb worthen, meaning "be to" 
or "to become. " 

174. Dingle. A small valley. 

194. Insulated. Standing apart. 

196. Tower. Tower of Babel (Genesis XI. 1-9). 

202. Pagod. The tower-like temples of the Chinese are called 
pagodas. 

203. Mosque. A Mohammedan temple. 
212. Boon. Bountiful. 

258. Broom. A bushy shrub found in Western Europe. 

263. Loch Katrine. The scene of the poem is one of the 
most beautiful of the Scottish lakes, situated in Perthshire. 
It is about eight miles long and two miles wide, serpentine in 
shape, and surrounded by high mountains and deep ravines. A 
small steamer plies on the lake. Near its outlet is situated 
Ellen's Isle, in the wild region of the Trosachs. It is supposed 
to have derived its name from "Catterins, or Ketterins, a wild 



CANTO FIRST 185 

band of robbers who prowled about its shores, to the terror of 
all wayfarers. " 

267. Livelier. Because in motion. 

274. Wildering. Bewildering. 

293. Matins. The early morning- prayers in the Catholic 
churches. 

297. Drop a bead. Say a prayer. Devout Catholics use a 
rosary or string of beads by which count is kept of prayers 
recited. 

302. Beshrew. May evil befall ; a mild imprecation often used 
playfully and even tenderly. 

317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. 

342. Naiad. A mythological nymph or goddess who presided 
over the fountains, s reams and lakes. 

344. Graces. Three lovely sisters who were the attendants 
of Venus and Apollo. 

353. Measured mood. Formal manner required by court eti- 
quette. 

360. Dear. By some it is thought that Scott wrote clear. 

363. Snood. A fillet or head-band worn by Scottish young 
unmarried women, and is emblematic of their maiden character. 
Plaid (played). A longpieceof checkered woolen cloth called 
"tartan" which was worn by Highlanders of both sexes. 
It was wrapped around the body, fastened with a belt, and 
extended to the knee. Each clan was distinguished by its own 
peculiar plaid. 

404. Prune, To trim or arrange feathers with the bill. 

409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (1542), 
this is not strictly true. He was fond of going about dis- 
guised. (See Scott's "Tales of a Grandfather.") 

410. Signet sage. Seal or mark of wisdom. 

425. Slighting. "Treating lightly his need of food and 
shelter." 

438. Couch. The Highlanders' rude couches were piles of 
heather. 

440. Ptarmigan. White grouse. Heath-cock. Black grouse. 

441. Mere. Lake. 

443. By the rood. Cross or crucifix. 

462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. 

^64. Lincoln green. A kind of cloth made in Lincoln and 
worn by lowland hunters. 

478. Emprise. Enterprise. 

492. Rocky isle. Ellen's Isle, situated at the foot of beauti- 
ful Loch Katrine, is a small island containing two or three 
acres of land rising abruptly from the water to a height of 
from twenty-five to fifty feet. It is covered with a thick 
undergrowth of shrubbery intermingled with a few birches 
and pines. 



186 NOTES 

500. Winded. Wound. 

504. For retreat in dangerous hour. The Celtic chieftains, 
whose lives were in constant jeopardy, usually had some place 
of retreat in a secluded part of their domains, where they 
might go in times of peril. 

525. Idaean vine. The red whortleberry. 

528. And every hardy plant could bear. Plant which could 
bear. A form of speech common to the age. 

546. Target. A small shield. 

548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. See Can- 
to III, 3, also Canto VI, 124. 

558. Tapestry. Hangings used in decorating the walls of a 
room. 

566. Brook. Endure. 

573. Ferragus or Ascabart. Two giants of romantic fable. 

580. Though more than kindred knew. Ellen's mother was 
dead, and Lady Margaret, the mother of Roderick Dhu and 
aunt of Ellen, had cared for the orphan girl and was dearly 
loved by her, 

587. Fellest. Bitterest. 

591. Snowdoun. An old name for Stirling Castle. James Fitz- 
James. A name assumed by James V. 

592. Barren heritage. By the losses of the earlier James, 
and because of the internal feuds among the Highland chiefs, 
the kingly power was little more than a name. 

596. Wot. Knows. 

598. Lord Moray. The half-brother of James V. 

602. Require. Request. 

672. Not Ellen's spell. Not even Ellen's spell. 

704. Grisly. Grim, horrible. 

CANTO SECOND 

21. Hawk. Catching birds with hawks was a pastime of the 
Middle Ages. 

80. Fair. Fair lady Would scorn. Who would scorn. These 
ellipses are found frequently in this poem. 

81. Prize. A lady usually bestowed the prizes in a tourna- 
ment. 

84. Turned him. In this age personal pronouns were often 
used reflexively 

94. Parts. Departs. Often in poetry and earlier English. 

109. The Graeme. The ancient and powerful family of 
Graham (which, for metrical reasons, is here spelled after 
the Scottish pronunciation) held extensive possessions in the 
counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few families can boast 
of more historical renown. — Scott. 



CANTO SECOND 187 

114. Waked his harp. The music of the minstrel was impro- 
vised or composed as the inspiration came to him. 

131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the seventh century. 
Scott says, "I am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was 
a performer on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly ac- 
complishment ; for Saint Dunstan certainly did play upon that 
instrument, which retaining, as was natural, a portion of the 
sanctity attached to its master's character, announced future 
events by its spontaneous sound." The R. Father Hierome 
Porter, in 1632, wrote of the accusation against Dunstan of 
"art magick" inasmuch as his "violl, of its own accord, with- 
out anie man's helpe," distinctly played as it was hanging 
on the wall — a prophecy of evil. 

141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of Both- 
well Castle stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles 
above Glasgow. 

142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. The Douglases were exiled 
in the reign of James V. The Earl of Angus, here represented 
as the nephew of James Douglas (Ellen's father), while acting 
as regent, incurred the hatred of James V, and thus caused 
the banishment of the entire clan, which was very powerful, 

159. From Tweed to Spey. That is, from one end of the 
land to the other, as the Tweed is the southern boundary of 
Scotland and the Spey is a river far to the north, 

200. Bleeding Heart. This was the cognizance of the Doug- 
lases, who adopted it because to a chief of that clan had been 
entrusted the heart of Robert Bruce when he fell in battle. 

206. Strathspey. A Highland dance. 

213. Clan-Alpine's pride. The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, 
includes several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth Mc- 
Alpine, an ancient king. These are the Macgregors, the 
Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans, the MacNabs, the Mac- 
Quarries and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was the 
pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors.— Ta^/Zor. 

216. A Lennox foray. A raid in the lands of the Lennox family, 
bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. 

221. Holy-Rood. Holyrood palace, Edinburgh. 

229. The Douglas, etc. The exiled state of this powerful race 
is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The hatred 
of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that 
numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal 
authority had been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even 
in the most remote part of Scotland, durst not entertain them, 
unless under the strictest and closest disguise, — Scott. 

236. Dispensation. Permission from the Pope was necessary, 
owing to the near relationship of Roderick and Ellen. 

254. Shrouds. Shields; protects. 



188 ^ NOTEt 

260. Maronnan. A saint whose chapel was in Kilmarnock. 
270. Bracklinn's wave. A beautiful cascade in Menteith. 
274. Claymore. Large sword. 

306. Tine-man. Archibald Douglas was so unfortunate in all 
his enterprises that he was called the "Tine-man" because he 
"tined" or lost his men in every battle which he fought. 

307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas 
allied himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV of 
England. 

319. Beltane. May day in the Highlands, when fires were 
built on hill-tops at night in honor of the god Beal or Bel of 
pagan times. 

327. Canna, A sort of cotton grass. 

335. Glengyle. A place at the north of Loch Katrine. 

340. Bannered Pine. A banner with the device of a pme tree. 

351. Chanter. The pipe which sounds the treble or tenor in 
a bagpipe. 

392. Burden. Chorus. 

405. Bourgeon. To sprout. 

408. Roderick Vich Alpine dhu. Besides the title expressive 
of his patriarchal dignity as head of the clan, a chieftain had 
usually another peculiar to himself, which distinguished him 
from the chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes de- 
rived from complexion, as dhu. The line therefore signifies, 
"Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine." 

416. Menteith. Country bordering the Teith. Breadalbane, 
country surrounding Loch Tay, north of Loch Lomond, 

419-426. Places in the region of Loch Lomond south and 
west of Loch Katrine. 

431. Rosebud that graces. The allusion is to Ellen. 

497. Percy's Norman pennon. A banner taken by the Doug- 
lases at Otterburn. 

504. Waned crescent. The crescent was the Buccleuch badge. 
The Buccleuch family were defeated in their attempt to restore 
the king. 

506. Blantyre. A ruin on the Clyde opposite Bothwell Castle. 

525. Unhooded. The heads of falcons were commonly cov- 
ered wth a hood. When this was removed the bird flew away 
to seek game. 

527. Goddess of the wood. Diana. 

548. Ben Lomond. A mountain east of Loch Lomond. 

5h9. Not a sob. That is, without getting out of breath. 

594. News. Used at that time as both singular and plural ; 
now generally used as singular. 

606. Glozing. Not plain and outspoken ; glosses over the truth. 

613. Age shall give thee thy command. Malcolm was still 
under age and a ward of the king. 



CANTO SECOND 189 

615. The King's vindictive pride. In quelling the Border raid 
King James had used very severe measures and had executed 
a number of the leaders. 

623-626. Meggat, Yarrow, Ettrick, Teviot. Branches of the 
Tweed. 

633. What grace for Highland Chiefs, etc. That is, what mercy 
could Highland Chiefs expect considering the harsh treatment 
accorded the Border Chiefs by the King? 

635. Glenfinlas. A valley east of Ben-an. 

638. Straight. Strait. 

674. Know. The old plural of enough. 

678. Links of Forth. Windings of the Forth River below 
Stirling. 

685. Heat. Anger. 

702. Battled. Battlemented. 

710. Crossing. Conflicting. 

733. Brand. Sword. 

747. Nighted. Benighted, overtaken by night. 

757. Checkered shroud. Tartan plaid. 

773. Minion. The favorite of a prince, on whom he lavishes 
his favors. Used derogatorily. 

774. So lately. At the ** Beltane game." See 319. 
790. Broil. Contention, quarrel. 

301. Pity 't were, etc. Hardihood was in every respect so es- 
sential to the character of a Highlander that the reproach of 
effeminacy was the most bitter that could be thrown upon him. 
-Scott. 

805. Lackey. A verb, meaning to pay servile attendance. 

809. Henchman. Literally, haunchman, a servant who closely 
attends his master. At drinking bouts he stands behind his 
master's seat, at his haunch, from whence his title is derived, 
and watches the conversation to see if any one offends his pa- 
tron. — Scott. 

825. We too shall find an hour. A time to settle the quarrel. 

829. On the morn. Modifies "should circle, " not "had sworn. " 

831. The Fiery Cross. See Canto III, 18. 

848. Vassal band. Those who would naturally be followers 
of Malcolm; his dependents. 

867. Cormorant. A genus of web-footed sea birds, sometimes 
called sea raven. 

CANTO THIRD 

3. Marvelling. Wondering. 

5. That be. In old English there was the form "be" as 
present tense as well as "am." 

13. Heath. A cheerless tract of country overgrown with 
shrubs or coarse herbage. 



190 NOTES 



15- What time. When. Keenly wound. Sharply blown. 

18. The Fiery Cross. When a chieftain designed to summon 
his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a 
goat, and making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremi- 
ties in the fire, and extinguished them in the blood of the ani- 
mal. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or 
the Cross oj Shame, because disobedience to what the symbol 
implied inferred infamy It was delivered to a swift and 
trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to the next ham- 
let, where he presented it to the principal person, with a single 
word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received the 
symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to 
the next village; and thus it passed with incredible celerity 
through all the district which owed allegiance to the chief, 
and also among his allies and neighbors, if the danger was 
common to them. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, 
from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was 
obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms and accoutrements, 
to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear suffered 
the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematically 
denounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks 
upon this warlike signal During the civil war of 1745-6, the 
Fiery Cross often made its circuit; and upon one occasion it 
passed through the whole district of Breadalbane, a tract of 
thirty-two miles, in three hours. — Scott. 

28. Fancy's eye. The eye of the imagination. 

30. Chalice. Cup. 

31. Lawn„ An open space between woods. 

38. Good morrow. Good morning Brake. A place overgrown 
with shrubs and brambles; a thicket. 

39. Cushat. The ringdove or wood pigeon. 

48 Ritual. The rite or ceremony of consecrating the Fiery 
Cross 

62. Juniper. A sort of pine. Rowan. The mountain ash. 

63. Shivers. Splinters. 

74. Benharrow. A mountain near the head of Loch Lomond. 

76. Druid. One of an order of priests which in ancient times 
existed among the Gauls and Britons. They superintended 
moral and religious affairs and practiced divination and magic. 
They sacrificed human victims as a part of their worship. 
Their most sacred rites were performed in the depths of oak 
forests or of caves. Brian was more like a Druid priest than 
like a Christian. 

85. Bound. Boundary limit. 

87. Strath. A river valley. 

102. Bucklered heart. Protected by a buckler or shield. 

104. Fieldfare. The common English thrush. 



CANTO THIRD 191 

123. Compeers. Equals; companions; associates. 

130. Hap. Fortune; fate. 

133. Meteor fire. Light from shooting stars. 

138. Sable-lettered. Black-lettered. The early English books 
were printed in old English or modern Gothic type which is 
heavier than ordinary type. 

142. Cabala. A mysterious science among Jewish rabbis 
whereby future events are said to be foretold. 

150. Specter's child. Ghost's child. 

154. River Demon. The River Horse, the form commonly 
assumed is the Kelpy of the Lowlands, an evil and malicious 
spirit delighting to forebode and to witness calamity. 

168. Ben-Shie. Most Highland families had a tutelar, or 
domestic spirit, attached to them, who took an interest in their 
prosperity and intimated by its wailings any approaching dis- 
aster. 

169. Sounds. A presage of the kind alluded to in the text 
is still believed to announce death to the ancient Highland fam- 
ily of Mac Lean of Loch Buy. The spirit of an ancestor slain 
in battle is heard to gallop along a stony bank, and then to 
ride thrice around the family residence, ringing his fairy bridle 
and thus intimating the approaching calamity. 

171. Shingly. Gravelly ; pebbly. 

177. Ban. Curse. 

189. Cubit. About 18 or 20 inches, or the distance from the 
elbow to the end of the middle finger. 

191. Inch-Cailliach. The Isle of Nuns, or of Old Women, is 
a most beautiful island at the lower extremity of Loch 
Lomond. The church belonging to the former nunnery was 
long used as the place of worship for the parish of Buchanan, 
but scarce any vestiges of it now remain. The burial ground 
continues to be used and contains the family places of sepulture 
of several neighboring clans. The monuments of the lairds of 
MacGregor, and of other families claiming a descent from the 
old Scottish King Alpine are most remarkable. 

200. Sepulchral yew. The yew tree is often planted in grave- 
yards, on account of the color of its foliage. 

203. Dwelling low. The Grave. 

212. Strook. Struck. 

219. Ben-an. A mountain near Loch Katrine. 

226. Scathed. Burned or charred. 

229. Blasphemy. Any indignity offered to God in words, 
writing or signs; also claiming the attributes of Deity. 

243. Goshawk. Goose-hawk because used in hunting geese. 

253. Coir-Uriskin. The wild men's den, located in the moun- 
tain of Benvenue. Urisk corresponds to Satyr in the Greek. 

255. Beala-nam-bo. "The pass of the cattle," a most mag:- 



192 NOTES 

nificent glade overhung with aged birch trees, a little higher 
up the mountain than the Coir-nam-Uriskin. 

286. Lanrick mead. Near Loch Vennacher. 

300. Dun deer's hide. The ancient buskin was made of un- 
dressed hide, with the hair outwards, — a circumstance which pro- 
cured the Highlanders the well-known epithet of "Redshanks." 

309. Questing. Seeking its game. 

310. Scaur. A bare and broken place on a mountain side, as 
scar. For example, Scarborough, the name of an English town. 

332. Cheer. In the original sense of countenance or look. 

341. Achray. Loch Achray, a small lake between Loch 
Katrine and Loch Vennachar. 

344. Bosky. Bushy; woody. 

349. Duncraggan. Near the Brigg of Turk. 

357. The female wail. At the death of their friends, the 
women could be heard wailing and beating their hands together. 

369. Coronach. The Coronach of the Highlanders was a wild 
expression of lamentation, poured forth by the mourners over 
the body of a departed friend. When the words of it were 
articulate, they expressed the praises of the deceased, and the 
loss the clan would sustain by his death. — Scott. 

384. In flushing. In full bloom. 

386. Correi. A hollow in the side of a hill where game may lie, 

387. Cumber. Trouble; distress. 

394. Stumah. The faithful hound belonging to Duncan. 

445. Targe. A shield or buckler. 

453. Strath-Ire. The first stage of the fiery cross is to Dun- 
craggan, a place near the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream 
divides Achray from Loch Vennacher. [From] thence it passes 
towards Callander, and then, turning to the left up the pass of 
Leny, is consigned to Norman at the chapel of St. Bride, which 
stood on a small and romantic knoll in the middle of the val- 
ley, called Strath-Ire. Tombea and Arnandave, or Ardman- 
dave, are names of places in the vicinity. The alarm is then 
supposed to pass along the lake of Lubnaig and through the 
various glens in the district of Balquidder includmg the neigh- 
boring tracts of Glenfinlas and Strath-Gartney. —5co«. 

461. Chapel of Saint Bride. The site of this chapel is still to 
be seen a short way below Loch Lubnaig. 

480. Her troth Tombea' s Mary gave. Troth-giving here means 
marriage. Tombea is a farm at the head of the Pass of Leny. 

485. Coif. A close fitting hood worn by married women. 
See Canto I, 363. 

518. Her chieftain's trust. The chieftain committed to the 
clan the trust of preserving its honor. 

546. Bracken. Clumps of fern. 

570. Balquidder. The braes of Balquidder are well known 



CANTO THIRD 193 

from the song: "Will ye go, lassie, go, to the braes o' Bal- 
quidder?" — Tannahill. The braes at the head of Strath-Ire. 
They contain Lochs Voil and Doine and the river Tieth which, 
above the lakes, is called Balvaig. Rob Roy is buried at 
Balquidder. Midnight-blaze. The heath on the moorlands is 
often set fire to, that the sheep may graze on the young herb- 
age. This custom produces the most beautiful nocturnal ap- 
pearances similar almost to the discharge of a volcano. This 
simile is not new to poetry. The charge of a warrior, in the 
fine ballad of Hardyknute, is said to be "like fire to heather 
set." — Scott. 

577. Coil. A noise; tumult, bustla 

578-582. See 453. 

582. Strath-Gartney. On the northern side of Loch Katrine 
extending from Glengyle to the Trosachs. The Fiery Cross 
has now completed the circuit of Clan Alpine's lands, a distance 
of nearly fifty miles. 

583. Each man might claim. Each man who belonged to the 
Clan Alpine. 

607. Redneck. A castle a mile east of Loch Menteith. 

608. Cardross. A castle now called Cardross House, situated 
on the Forth, three or four miles from Rednock. 

609. Duchray's. Another castle the home of the Graemes, a 
few miles southwest of Aberfoyle and between the lochs of 
Menteith and Aid. This district was the scene of many of the 
exploits of Rob Roy. 

610. Loch Con. A small loch, the source of the River Forth, 
two miles south of Loch Katrine surrounded by romantic 
scenes. 

633. Incumbent. Here means hanging over. 

641. Still. Stillness. 

655. Fays. Fairies; elves. 

672. A single page. A Highland chief, being as absolute in 
his authority as any prince, had a corresponding number of 
officers attached to his person. L The Henchman. 2. The 
Bard. 3. Bladier or Spokesman. 4. Gillie-more or Sword- 
bearer. 5. Gillie-casflue, who carried the chief, if on foot, 
over the fords. 6. Gillie constraine, who leads the chief's 
horse. 7. Gillie-Trushanarinsh, the Baggage-man. 8. The 
Piper. 9. The Piper's Gillie, or attendant who carries the 
bag-pipe. — Scott. 

713. Ave Maria. Hail, Mary! The Roman Catholic Invoca- 
tion to the Virgin. See Luke I, 26-28. 



194 NOTES 



CANTO FOURTH 

18-65. Note carefully the dialogue between Norman and 
Malise. The quotation marks will serve as gruides. 

19. Braes of Doune. Doune castle on the north bank of the 
Teith, near its junction with the Forth. The Earls of Moray- 
are Barons of Doune. 

36. Boune. Prepared. 

42. Bide. Endure. 

63. Taghairm. The Highlanders, like all rude people, had 
various modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most 
noted was the Taghairm mentioned in the text. A person was 
wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited 
beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some 
other wild and unusual situation, where the scenery around 
suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he 
revolved in his mind the question proposed, and whatever was 
impressed upon him by his exalted imagination passed for the 
inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt these desolate 
recesses, — Scott. 

68. Merrymen. Pronounced as two syllables, 

73. Kerns. Light armed foot-soldiers in the ancient militia 
of Ireland and Scotland. 

74. Beal 'maha. East of Lomond. 

77. Dennan's Row. Rowardennan, the point from which men 
started in ascending Ben Lomond. 

78. Scathless. Without injury. 
82. Boss. Knob, 

84. Hero's Targe. There is a rock so named in the forest of 
Glenfinlas by which a tumultuary cataract takes its course. 
—Scott. 

98. Broke. Everything belonging to the chase was matter 
of solemnity among our ancestors ; but nothing was more so 
than the mode of cutting up, or as it was technically called, 
breaking the slaughtered stag. The forester had his allotted 
portion; the hounds had a certain allowance; and, to make the 
division as general as possible, the very birds had their share 
also. — Scott. 

132. Which spills. Though this be in the text described as a 
response of the Taghairm, or Oracle of the Hide, it was of it- 
self an augury frequently attended to. The fate of the battle 
was often anticipated in the imagination of the combatants, 
by observing which party first shed blood. It is said that the 
Highlanders under Montrose were so deeply imbued with this 
notion, that, on the morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they 
murdered a defenceless herdsman, whom they found in the 



CANTO FOURTH 195 

fields, merely to secure an advantage of so much consequence 
to their party. — Scott. 

140. A spy. Fitz-James. 

150. Glaive. Sword, derived from the Latin gladius. 

152-153. Moray, Mar. The Earl of Moray and the Earl of 
Mar were commanders of the forces of King James. The ' * star" 
and (he "pale" mean their cognizances (orcrests). *'Pale"isa 
term used in heraldry, and means a band drawn perpendicularly 
through the center of the shield. The pale of the Earl of Mar 
was black. 

160. Earn. The district about Loch Earn and the river of 
the same name flowing from the lake. 

164. Trosachs' shaggy glen. As Trosachs means "bristling," 
this expression may be called tautology. 

174. Stance. Place or station. 

198. The red streamers of the North. This refers to the Au- 
rora Boreal is, or Northern Lights. These electrical discharges 
are most beautiful in the North, lighting up the darkness of 
the long winter. 

217. Rife. Prevalent. 

223. Trowed. Believed. Aught. At all ; to any extent. 

231. Cambus-kenneth. The field of Kenneth (a king) ; about 
a mile northeast of Stirling is situated the abbey of this name: 
sometimes it is called the Monastery of Stirling. It was nearly 
destroyed by the "Reformers" in 1559. All that remain of it 
now are a few walls and a ruined tower. 

250. Sooth. True. 

261. Merry it is, etc. An imitation of the old Danish ballad, 
with its free measure, alliterations and suggestively broken 
effects. 

262. Mavis, and merle. Thrush and blackbird. 

267. Wold. Wood originally, but it now means an open, 
grazing country as "Cotswold Hills." 

277. Vest. From Latin vestis, a garment. Pall. From Latin 
palla, a mantle originally, then the rich cloth from which 
mantles were made, and this is the meaning here. 

283. Darkling. In the dark. See King Lear, L 4. 237: 
"So out went the candle and we were left darkling, " etc. 
See also 71L 

285. Vair. From the Latin varius, spotted. A kind of fur 
much worn at the time of these events. It is now thought 
that this fur was the skin of the gray squirrel. 

298. Woned. Lived or dwelt. Chaucer used this word 
frequently. 

306. Fatal green. As the Daoine Shi\ or Men of Peace, wore 
green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any 
mortals ventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, for 



196 NOTES 

8ome reason, which has been, perhaps, originally a general 
superstition, green is held in Scotland to be unlucky to par- 
ticular tribes and counties. The Caithness men, who hold this 
belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore that color 
when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden. . . Green is 
also disliked by those of the name of Ogilvy, but more espe- 
cially is it held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. — Scott. 

308. Christened man. The elves were supposed greatly to envy 
the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave 
to those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain 
precedence, founded upon this advantageous distinction. — Scott. 

330. Kindly. (Pronounced with short i) Kindred. In Hamlet, 
I, 2: "A little more than kin and less than kind." 

336. Conjure. To summon or command a demon, a spirit, 
etc. , by invocation or a spell. 

357. But wist I, etc. But if I knew, etc. 

371. Dunfermline. This word means The Fortified Hill of 
the Crooked Stream. The most magnificent abbey in Scotland 
was once situated here. It was destroyed by the English in 
1303. It was rebuilt, though not with its former grandeur, 
and the ruins of the later abbey are among the finest in Great 
Britain. 

387. Bourne. Streamlet. [Sc. burn, a. brook; Ger. brennen, 
a spring. ] 

392. Scathe. Harm; danger. 

411 Bochastle. A haugh or plain between the stream that 
flows out of Loch Vennacher and the Tieth. 

413. Bower. A lady's apartment in a castle. 

417. Before. That is, at his visit to the Isle. 

424. Forth it shall. To what does "it" refer ? (Her story ) 

437. Train. Lure. 

446. As. As though. 

473. Reck of. Think of ; care for. 

500. They fared. They went. [A. S. faran; Ger. fahren, 
to go.] 

506. Weeds. Clothing, as "widow's weeds." 

510. Seemed nought to mark. To see without intelligence. 

519. As loud she laughed. Her shrieking turned to laughter, 
and she laughed as loud as she had shrieked. 

531. Allan. A stream in Perthshire entering the Forth about 
two miles from Sterling. It is picturesquely beautiful. 

532. Devan. A tributary of the Forth, celebrated in Scottish 
poetry. The Rumbling Bridge spans the roaring cascades of 
the Devan and the word "heard" refers to them. See Burns 
and other Scottish poets. 

552. Bridegroom. Place the accent on the second syllable to 
preserve the metre. 



CANTO FOURTH 197 

559. Bar. Hurling a heavy bar was one of the feats of 
strength practiced in those days. See Canto V, 646-648. 

567. Batten. Fatten. See Hamlet III, 4. 

574. Been. Pronounced with the ee long as "bean," which is 
the pronunciation in England. Also to rhyme with "green." 

590. The toils are pitched. By this song. King James was 
warned of his danger. The meaning is, that the hunters are 
Clan-Alpine's men; the stag of ten is Fitz-James; the wounded 
doe is herself. 

594. A stag of ten. Having ten branches on his antlers. — Scott. 

617. Thrilled. Quivered. 

618-636. Here Scott is at his best when describing rapid 
action. He was at heart a soldier and excels in spirited de- 
scription as may often be noted in his writings. 

624. Kindred ambush. Kmdred in ambush. See line 627. 

626. Them couldst thou reach. If thou couldst reach them, 
thou wouldst be safe. 

642. Daggled. Wet; soaked. 

665-674. The action of the next canto is here foreshadowed. 

672. Wreak. Avenge. 

676. Fast poured his eyes. Fast flowed his tears. 

720. Couch me here. Make my bed here. 

721. Threads the brake. Winds his way cautiously through the 
brake. 

722. Summer solstice. June 21st, when summer begins. The 
meaning here is that even the heat of summer could not tem- 
per the cold of these mountain crags. Solstice, from Latin 
sol and sto. 

724. Wold. The forest ; the weald [A. S. weald ; L. G. wold, 
woold ; Ger. wald ; E. weald and wood. \ 

743. Beast of game. The deer is given a fair start, but the 
fox is shown no pity. 

746. Slip. Let slip from the leash. 

747. Recked. Cared. 

751. Come. Means "let Roderick Dhu come and let me rest 
and I will write the falsehood on their crest." 

762. Hardened flesh of mountain deer. The Scottish High- 
landers, in former times, had a concise mode of cooking their 
venison, or rather of dispensing with cooking it . . . [by] 
compressing it between two batons of wood, so as to force out 
the blood and render it extremely hard. This they reckoned a 
great delicacy.— Scoft. 

772. A mighty augury. That of the Taghairm. 

784. Myself will guide thee. Meaning I myself. 

787. Coilantogle's ford. A ford across the Tieth just below 
Loch Vennacher. There is now a footbridge at this place. 

794. Wreath. Here means a heap of heather. 



198 NOTES 



CANTO FIFTH 

10. Sheen. Bright; shining. 
18. Gael. Highlander. Saxon. Lowlander. 
49. Copse. A thicket or grove of small trees. 
58. Pass's jaws. Narrow opening of the pass. 
62. Pass. Permission to go and come. 
85. Lure. Enticement. 

93. Muster. Gathering of troops or followers. 
108 Regent. John Stewart, Duke of Albany, a relative of 
the young King's. 

125. Truncheon. A staff symbolizing authority. 

126. Mewed. Imprisoned or confined as in a cage. 

127. Stranger to respect and power. There is scarcely a more 
disorderly period in Scottish history than that which succeeded 
the battle of Flodden and occupied the minority of James V. 

144. Stranger. Lowlander. 

153. Target. See Canto I, 546. Claymore. A large two- 
edged sword of the ancient Highlanders of Scotland. 

156. Pent. Imprisoned. 

163. Maze. Intricate windings. 

169. Seek other cause. So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or 
foray, from being held disgraceful, that a young chief was 
always expected to show his talents for command, so soon as 
he assumed it, by leading his clan on a successful enterprise 
of this nature, either against a neighboring sept, for which 
constant feuds furnished an apology, or against the Saxons. 
or Lowlanders, for which no apology was necessary The 
Gael, great traditional historians, never forgot that the Low- 
lands had, at some remote period, been the property of their 
Celtic forefathers, which furnished an ample vindication of all 
the ravages that they could make on the unfortunate districts 
which lay within their reach. — Scott. Scott means "historians 
great in tradition" by "great traditional historians." 

173. Ambuscade. The necessity of lying in am.bush. 

196-227. This is an extremely dramatic passage, suspense 
and surprise contributing chiefly to its force. 

234-239. One of the most famous passages in the poem, and 
probably the one most frequently quoted. 

252. Glinted. Was flashed back. 

253. Jack. A coat of cheap armor worn by foot soldiers. 
268. Lay, Depended upon. 

270. Only Meant. Meant only. 

273. Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. This incident, like 
some other passages in the poem, illustrative of the character 
of the ancient Gael, is not imaginary, but borrowed from fact. 



CANTO FIFTH 199 

The Highlanders, with the inconsistency of most nations in 
the same state, were alternately capable of great exertions of 
generosity, and of cruel revenge and perfidy, — Scott. 

277. Wont. Accustomed. Tempered. Quiet. 

298. Three mighty lakes. Katrine, Achray and Vennachar. 
The torrent which discharges itself from Loch Vennachar, the 
lowest and easternmost of the three lakes which form the 
scenery adjoining the Trosachs, sweeps through a flat and ex- 
tensive moor called Bochastle. Upon a small eminence called 
the Dun of Bochastle, and, indeed on the plain itself, are some 
intrenchments which have been called Roman.— Scott. 

305. See 380. 

324. Meed. Reward well deserved. 

356. Carpet knight. One who stays at home from battle to 
spend his time with those at home, or on the carpets of palaces. 

364. Ruth. Pity. 

380. Targe he threw. A round target of light wood covered 
with strong leather and studded with brass or iron was a 
necessary part of a Highlander's equipment. In charging 
regular troops, they received the thrust of the bayonet in this 
buckler, twisted it aside, and used the broadsword against the 
encumbered soldier. A person thus armed had a considerable 
advantage in private fray. — Scott. 

383. Trained abroad. Trained in France as many were; the 
French were long called the best fencers in Europe. 

401. Lea. Field or pasture land. "The lowing herd winds 
slowly o'er the lea. " — Gray's Elegy. 

441. The braid. Blanche of Devan's hair intertwined with 
her husband's hair. See Canto IV, 683. 

452. Squires. Male attendants. 

462. A fairer freight. Ellen. 

504. Gray Stirling. "The glory of Scotland— who does not 
know its noble rock, rising the monarch of the landscape, its 
majestic and picturesque towers, its amphitheater of moun- 
tain and the windings of its marvellous river: and who that 
has once seen the sun descending here, in all the blaze of its 
beauty beyond the purple hills of the west, can ever forget 
the plain of Stirling, the endless charm of this wonderful 
scene, the wealth, the splendor, the variety, the majesty of 
all which here lies between earth and heaven?"— Macci^^Zocfe 
quoted in Fullerton's Gazetteer of Scotland. 

544. Bride of Haaven. A nun. 

550 Douglas. The fate of William, eighth Earl of Douglas, 
whom James II stabbed in Stirling Castle with his own hand, 
and while under his royal safe-conduct, is familiar to readers 
of Scottish history. — Scott. 

551. Mound. A hillock on the northeast of Stirling Castle 
where state criminals were executed. — Scott. 



200 NOTES 

558. Franciscan steeple. Gray friars' church. 

562. Morrice dancers. The morrice dance was of Moorish 
origin and the participants rang small bells and shook rattles 
to the accompaniment of their swift, irregular evolutions. 

564. Burgher. A freeman of a burgh or borough. Sports. 
Every burgh of Scotland of the least note, more especially the 
considerable towns, had their solemn play or festival when 
feats of archery were exhibited, and prizes distributed to those 
who excelled in wrestling, hurling the bar and other exercises 
of the period. Stirling was not likely to be deficient in pomp 
upon such occasions, being a royal residence, and James V 
being partial to athletic sports. His participation in these 
amusements was one cause of his acquiring the title of King 
of the Commons. 

571. Play my prize. The same expression occurs in Shakes- 
peare's "Timon of Athens" 1. 1. 399: "You have played your 
prize." 

572. Stark. Strong. 

584. Jennet. A small Spanish horse. 
597. Brooked. Endured. 
611. Morricers. See 562. 

613. Butts. Casks of liquor, or here, possibly, targets. 

614. Robin Hood. The exhibition of this renowned outlaw 
and his band was a favorite frolic at such festivities as these 
here described. This sporting, in which kings did not disdain 
to be actors, was prohibited in Scotland upon the Reformation. 

615. Quarterstaff. A stout pole about six feet long. 
630. Wight. Fellow. 

641. Ring. The usual prize of a wrestling was a ram and a 
ring, but the animal would have embarrassed my story. — Scott. 

648. The massive bar. Compare Canto IV, 559. 

653. Rood. A variable measure of length; about six or 
seven yards. 

656. Douglas Cast. Distance he threw. 

660. Ladies' Rock. The rock from which the ladies viewed 
the sports. 

729. Amain. With great violence. 

740. Misproud. Wrongly proud. 

747. Ward. Imprisonment. 

791. Weep their sires. Weep for their sires. 

794. Ward. Ward off, a verb. 

856. Lost it. Forgot it. 

882. Jar. War. 

886. Pent. Imprisoned. 

891-898. Foreshadows the action of the next Canto. 



CANTO SIXTH 201 



CANTO SIXTH 

3. Caitiff. Here, an unfortunate man. 

9. Kind nurse. Sleep. See Henry IV, Second Part, III, L 

32. Stern. Violent. This use of the word is obsolete. 

42. Harness. Their armor. 

47. Adventurers. The Scottish armies consisted chiefly of the 
nobility and barons, with their vassals, who held lands under 
them for military service by themselves and their tenants. 
The patriarchal influence exercised by the heads of clans in 
the Highland and Borders was of a different nature, and 
som.etimes at variance with feudal principles. It flowed from 
the Patria Potestas, exercised by the chieftain as representing 
the original father of the whole name, and was often obeyed 
in contradiction to the feudal superior. James V seems first 
to have introduced, in addition to the militia furnished from 
these sources, the service of a small number of mercenaries, 
who formed a bodyguard, called the Foot- Band. —<Scoi^^. 

60. Halberd. A broad blade with sharp edges ending in a 
sharp point, mounted on a handle five to seven feet long. 

63. Holytide. Holy time. This use of tide is now only found 
in poetry. 

75. Burden. Chorus. See Canto II, 392. 

78. Trent. A river of eastern England, flowing through 
Nottingham and Lincoln. 

81. Host. Army. An ancient meaning of the word. 

87. Troll. Sing merrily. 

88. Buxom. Lively. 

90. Poule. Paul; an old spelling found in Chaucer and other 
writers. 

92. Black-jack. A kind of pitcher made of leather. See 
"Old Mortality," Ch. VIII: "The large black-jack filled with 
very small beer." 

128. Wax. Grow. 

129. Glee-maiden. The jongleurs, or jugglers, as we learn 
from the elaborate work of the late Mr. Strutt on the sports 
and pastimes of the peopl.e of England, used to call in the aid 
of various assistants, to render these performances as cap- 
tivating as possible. The glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. 
Her duty was tumbling and dancing; and therefore the Anglo- 
Saxon version of Saint Mark's Gospel states Herodias to have 
vaulted or tumbled before King Herod. In Scotland these 
poor creatures seem, even at a late period, to have been bonds- 
women to their masters. — Scott. 

136. Purvey. Furnish. 

152. Tartan screen. The plaid which she used for covering 
her face. 



202 NOTES 



170. Needwood. A Staffordshire forest. 

178. Part. Act. 

183. Tullibardine. About twenty miles from Stirling. This 
was where the "proud Murrays" lived. Baron Murray of 
Tullibardine was the earliest title of the Ducal house of Atholl. 
Tullibardine Castle is in Perthshire. 

199. Errant. Notorious; infamous. Damosel. Maiden. 

222. Permit, etc. Allow me to show you the way. 

227. Guerdon. Reward. 

234. Barret-cap. A style of cap. (Latin, birrus — hood or 
cape.) The name for a priest's cap is "birretta. " 

242. Master's. Meaning Douglas, but John of Brent takes it 
to refer to Roderick. 

295. Leech. Doctor. This is the first meaning of the word 

306. Prore. Prow or bow of the ship. 

309. Astrand. On the strand, as "a-shore," "a-foot. " 

319. Thy lady. Ellen is naturally first in his thoughts. 

327. Some might. Some might have fled. 

336. Pine. See Canto II, 399-438. 

348. Strike it. There are several instances, at least in tradi 
tion, of persons so much attached to particular tunes as to 
require to hear them on their death-beds. ... It is popu- 
larly told of a famous free-booter that he composed the tune 
known by the name of Macpherson's Rant while under sen- 
tence of death and played it at the gallows' tree. Some spirited 
words have been adapted to it by Burns — Scott. 

369. Beal' an Duine. A skirmish actually took place at a 
pass thus called in the Trosachs, and closed with the remark- 
able incident mentioned in the text. It was greatly posterior 
in date to the reign of James V. — Scott. 

377. Erne. Eagle. 

404. Barded. Armored. In some editions, barbed. 

405. Battalia. Army. 

414. Vaward. In the van; vanward, or in advance. 

426. Dive. A strongly expressive word. See also "madden- 
ing." in line 438. 

442. It. This word refers to "wood" in line 443. 

452. Tinchel. A circle of sportsmen by surrounding a great 
space, and gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities 
of deer together, which usually made desperate efforts to 
break through the Tinchel. — Scott. 

455-480. Scott here admirably shows his own spirit, the spirit 
of the warrior. 

539. Bonnet-pieces. Gold pieces upon which the head of King 
James wearing a bonnet (cap) was stamped. 

545. Casque. Helmet. Corselet. Chest-armor. 

553. Riven. Pierced. 



CANTO SIXTH 203 

565. Duncraggan's widowed dame. See Canto ITT, 428-451. 
576. Elemental rage. The storm, or the raging of the elements. 
586. Both well's lord. Douglas. 

610. Breadalbane. See Canto II, 416. 

611. Requiem. A prayer for the dead. So called from 
Requiem aeterna dona eis. (Give eternal rest to them. ) 

631. She. Ellen. 

638. Storied pane. Window panes upon which scenes were 
painted which told stories of past deeds. "... storied win- 
dows richly dight. " — II Penseroso, 159. 

665. The imprisoned huntsman is Malcolm Graeme. 

668. Thrall. Slavery. 

677-678. Ring, sing. Infinitives modifying "wont." 

691. It. Refers to "tear." See 442. 

707. Prime. The first twelfth of the time between sunrise 
and sunset. Early morning. 

712. Stayed. Supported. 

726. Presence. Presence-chamber. 

740. Snowdoun's Knight. This discovery will probably re- 
mind the reader of the beautiful Arabian tale of U Bondocani. 
Yet the incident is not borrowed from that elegant story, but 
from Scottish tradition. James V, of whom we are treating, 
was a monarch whose good and benevolent intentions often 
rendered his romantic freaks venial, if not respectable, since, 
from his anxious attention to the interests of the lower and 
most oppressed class of his subjects, he was, as we have seen, 
popularly termed the King of the Commons. For the purpose 
of seeing that justice was regularly administered, and fre- 
quently for the less justifiable motive of gallantry, he used to 
traverse the vicinage of his several palaces in various disguises. 
The two excellent comic songs entitled "The Gaberlunzie 
Man" and "We'll gae nae mair a roving" are said to have 
been founded upon the success of his adventures when travel- 
ing in the disguise of a beggar. The latter is perhaps the 
best comic ballad in any language. — Scott. 

741. As wreath of snow. This is called the most beautiful 
simile in the poem. 

782. Proselyte. Convert. 

784. Speed. Good issue. 

789. Snowdoun. See Canto I, 591. 

802. Talisman. Charm. Look up the etymology of this 
word. 

813. Grace. Pardon. 

829. The Graeme. Jeffrey says: "Malcolm Graeme has too 
insignificant a part assigned him, considering the favor in 
which he is held both by Ellen and the author; and in bring- 
ing out the shadowed and imperfect character of Roderick 



204 NOTES 

Dhu, as a contrast to the purer virtue of his rival, Mr. Scott 
seems to have fallen into the common error of making him 
more interesting than him whose virtues he was intended to 
set off, and converted the villain of the piece in some measure 
into its hero. A modern poet, however, may perhaps be par- 
doned for an error of which Milton himself is thought not to 
have kept clear, and for which there seems so natural a cause 
in the difference between poetical and amiable characters. ' 

830-837. Note the suspense in these lines. 

842. Harp of the North. Compare the opening stanzas of the 
poem and note the contrasts in setting. 

846-847. Fountain. Breeze. Indirect objects of * 'lending.' 

862. Seraph. Angel. A Hebrew word. 



PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 



Achray, ak-ra'. 
Albany, a)'-bany. 
Alloa, al'-lo-a. 
Alpine, al-pin. 
Ascabart, as'-ca-bart. 
Balquidder, bal-quid'-er. 
Bannochar, ban'-no-kar. 
Beal'maha, beal-ma-ha'. 
Beala-nam-bo, beal-a-nam-bo'. 
Beltane, bel'-tane_. 
Benledi, ben-le-di. 
Ben Lomond, ben-lo'-mond. 
Ben Shie, ben-she'. _ 
Benvenue, ben-ve-nu'. 
Benvoirlich, ben-vor'-lich. 
Blantyre, blan-tire'. 
Bochastle, bo-chas'-le. 
Bothwell, both-well. 
Bracklin, brak'-lin._ 
Braes of Doune, braz of doon. 
Breadalbane, bred-al'-bane. 
Brianchoil, brI-an-coiP. 
Caledon, caP-e-don. 
Cambusmore, cam-bus-more'. 
Carbonie, car-bo'-ni. 
Coilantogle, coil-an-to'gle. 
Coir-nan-Uriskin, c6r-nan-u'- 

ris-kin. 
coronach, c6r'-o-nak. 
correi (corri, corrie), c6r'-i. 
Devan, de'-van. 
DeVaux, de-voo'. 
Dhu, doo. 
Doine, doin. 

L'oune, down, sometimes doon. 
Duchray, du-kra'. 
Duncraggan, dun-crag'-an. 
Dunfermline, diin-fer'-lin. 
Earn, ern. 
Ferragus, fer'-a-gus (fer- as 

in ferry) . 
Gallangad, gal'-an-gad. 



Glenfinlas, glen-fin'-las. 

Glen Fruin, glen frii'-in. 

Glengyle, glen glle'. 

Glen Luss, glen-loos'. 

Graeme, grame. 

Holyrood, ho'-ly-rood (or hol'- 

y-rood). 
Hyndford, hind'-ford. 
Inch-Cailliach, inch-kal'-yak. 
Katrine, kat'-rin. 
Kier, keer. 

Kilmarnock, kil-mar'-nok. 
Levenglen, lev'-en-glen. 
Lochard, lok-ard'. 
Lomond, lo'-mond. 
Lubnaig, lub-nag'. 
Lufra, m'-fra. 
Malise, mal'-is. 
Maronnan, ma-ron'-an. 
Meggat, meg'-at. 
Menteith, men-teeth'. 
Modan, mo'-dan. 
Moray, mur-ray. 
Ochtertyre, 6k-ter-tire'. 
orisons, 6r'-i-zons. 
pibroch, pi'-brock. 
plaid, plad, here ; usually plad 
Ross-dhu, ros-doo'. 
Scathelocke, scath^-e-16k. 
scaur, scar. 
Serle, serl. 

Strathspey, strath-spa'. 
Stumah, stu'-mah. 
Taghairm, tag'-erm. 
Teith, teeth. 
Teviot, tev'-i-ot. 
Torry, tor'-ri. 
Trosachs, tros'-aks. 
Tullibardine, tul-i-bar'-deen. 
Uam-Var, u-a-var'. 
Vennachar, ven'-a-kar. 
winded, wind'-ed. (page 28) 



EXCELSIOR LITERATURE SERIES— Continued 

Hiawatha. No. 27. H. W. Longfellow. 

With introduction, notes and vocabulary. 212 pages .30 

Idylls of the King. No. 31. Alfred Tennyson. 

(The Coming of Arthur, Gareth and Lynette, Lancelot and 
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Lady of the Lake, The. No. 85. Sir Walter Scott. 

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Lincoln-Donglas Debates. No. 63. 

This volume gives practically entire the principal addresses 
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Literature of the Bible. No. 37. Matthias R. Heilig, A.M. 

This is a scholarly, familiar and reverential treatment of the 
Bible, purely from a literary viewpoint. Numerous extracts 
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Man Without a Country, The. No. 65. Edward Everett Hale. 
With biographical sketch, historical introduction and explana- 
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Message to Garcia, A, and Other Inspirational Stories. No. 61. 
Edited, with introduction and notes, by Edward A. Parker, 
Ph.B. 64 pages 15 

Milton's Minor Poems. No. 29. 

(L'Allegro, II Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas.) Edited by Cyrus 
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~ 18 

Foe's Tales. No. 59. Selected. 

With introduction and notes by Edward A. Parker, Ph.B. 
The selections include Ligeia, The Gold Bug, The Fall of the 
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Silas Mamer. No. 33. George Eliot. 

Biographical sketch, notes, and questions for study on each 
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EXCELSIOR LITERATURE SERIES— Continued 

Sketch Book, The. No. 39. Washington Irving. Selected. 

With introduction and notes by Edward A. Parker, Ph.B. 
Contains most of the essays used in school work, including 
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pages ^ — - 30 

Sohrab and Rustnm. No. 15. Matthew Arnold. 

Biographical sketch, introduction and notes by Laura Dun- 
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Descriptions and stories concerning the Divers, Swimmers 
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Vision of Sir Laonfal, The. No. 5. James Russell Lowell. 

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Julias Caesar. No. 41. 

Introduction, notes and questions by Thomas C. Blaisdell, 
Ph.D., LL.D. 144 pages 24 

Macbeth. No. 43. 

Introductions, notes and questions by Thomas C. Blaisdell, 
Ph.D., LL.D. 144 pages .24 

Merchant of Venice, The. No. 45. 

Introduction, notes and questions by Thomas C. Blaisdell, 
Ph.D., LL.D. 144 pages .24 



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